A once love-stricken man who forced a teenager at gunpoint to set fire on his prostitute girlfriend has appeared at a Sydney court for trials. The man was said to have handed the teenage boy an inflammable liquid and ordered him to light up the Korean student who turned down his love advances.
Image: File Photo
The court heard that heartbroken Mohammad Ali Fouani got drunk in love after patronizing the beautiful Asian a few times.
Then he wanted more than just sex, and proposed to keep the prostitute as a girlfriend, offering to pay her about $5,000 a week as salary. The 34-year-old Korean initially rejected the offer.
However, Daily Mail confirms that the girl procrastinated for a while and finally accepted the deal after her foot-dragging antics. But she betrayed Ali.
The lover boy felt really hurt when he found out that the girl reached out to her other clients for services after agreeing to his terms. That was the beginning of a planned revenge that would send him and his accomplice [a teenager] to prison.
According to the report, Mohammad Ali Fouani allegedly drove the then-17-year-old, who cannot be named, to the Chippendale, Sydney, brothel and pointed out his lover.
For fear of getting harmed by the gunman, the 17-year-old attacked.
Their victim [the 34-year-old Korean student] was engulfed in flames for about 17 seconds, suffering serious burns to 45 per cent of her body which left her with permanent scars. The incident occurred in March 2012.
Following the attack, she has since returned to her country while the court trials continued.
Fouani’s lawyer James Trevallion told the Sydney District Court on Wednesday the teenager was a liar and the accused had just wanted to change the woman’s mind about going back to work.
‘He wanted to scare her, not to injure or harm her or cause any physical injury or disfigurement to her,’ he said, adding that the boy ‘went beyond what had been planned’.
Prosecutor Tony McCarthy said even if the teenager went further than what Fouani told him and caused more extensive burns than he was asked to, Fouani was still criminally responsible.
The youth who allegedly attacked the Korean prostitute is said to be 21 now. At the time of his judgement in 2014, he was sentenced to 6 years in prison. While serving his prison time, the young man will be a key witness in Ali’s trial.
The 44-year-old plasterer has pleaded not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent, and to recruiting a child to carry out a criminal act.
Mr Trevallion [Ali’s lawyer] claims his client “was not happy” at the girl’s decision to go back to work after their agreement, adding that the man “was never angry”.
But the jury heard that the accused had threatened to harm the youth and his family, before ordering him to buy a milk carton which was then filled with flammable liquid. He then drove him to Chippen Lane near the brothel, where he had planned to have dinner with the Korean.
When the girl arrived, Ali pointed out the victim for an attack, then drove off to wait for the teenager in another street.
“There was no dispute he took the youth to the area, but there was disagreement about whether the teenager did what he did voluntarily and whether he had been threatened by Fouani.
“The focus on this trial will be on the intent of the accused,” Mr McCarthy said.
You must log in to post a comment.