Court sentences two men to 9 years in prison for robbing elderly woman from Rehovot

The Tel Aviv District Court sentenced Mustafa Ziad and Shadi Fahida to nine years in prison for robbing an elderly woman from Rehovot. In February 2007, the two broke into 79-year-old Aida Gravibecker's apartment, pressed a knife blade against her neck and stole her wallet, cash, check books, clock, medals, chain and even food from her refridgerator.

Gravibecker was badly injured and needed medical treatment.

In the sentencing, the judge said that there have been too many similar cases of late, where an innocent and helpless victim is attacked and robbed.

Both Ziad and Fahida pleaded innocent, but the court ruled that their testimonies were false.

"Fahida's lies were so obvious," the judge ruled, "he had trouble wiping the smile off his face while giving his ridiculous testimony."

The judge also praised Gravibecker for her courage to come and testify in court despite the trauma and the fact that she does not know Hebrew.

The 79-year-old woman told the court how she had been tied up for 40 minutes until she managed to escape and call for help.

Source: Ofra Idelman. Court sentences two men to 9 years in prison for robbing elderly woman. Haaretz.com (5 May 2008) [FullText]