Jamil Tamimi, an Arab resident of eastern Jerusalem who stabbed 20 year-old British exchange student Hannah Bladon to death on the Jerusalem Light Rail in April 2017, was convicted of murder by Jerusalem’s District Court on Monday.
The prosecution has demanded that Tamimi serve 18 years in prison, as part of a plea-bargain, and claims that the murder was not ‘nationally motivated’, as opposed to many similar stabbing attacks, but was actually a result of the killer’s mental illness.
“We are talking about a shocking murder, with no nationalistic identifiers, which was carried out by an individual who is mentally ill,” said Sagiv Uzeri of the Jerusalem District Prosecution, “We know that no punishment would console or alleviate the pain of the grieving family. Therefore, in accordance with the severity of the act, and after no objection has been posed by the family members, the prosecution demands a sentence of 18 years in prison, which would assure the defendant, who is 60, will spend the majority of his remaining years behind bars.”
Tamimi stabbed Hannah Bladon, a 20-year-old religion, theology and archaeology student in Israel on an exchange program from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom as she rode on the Light Rail in April 2017.
According to media reports at the time, he was known to security services, had been convicted of molesting his own daughter and had spent time in a psychiatric ward. The day before the attack, he was released from a mental health center after being involved in a violent incident.
The State Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that prior to any agreement being signed, it could not comment on the details, but added that it is in “constant contact with the parents of the deceased through their attorney and any decision will only be made after hearing the position of the victim’s parents.