Boxing champ's father jailed for shooting her
A former double world champion boxer saw her adoptive father jailed for six years in Berlin on Monday – for shooting her four times and probably ending her professional career in the ring. Rola El-Halabi was in the German capital’s district court to see Hicham “Roy” El-Halabi sentenced for the attack which he carried out in a rage after his daughter sacked him as her manager and started a romantic relationship with a man who was married at the time.
He admitted the attack of April 1 this year, but said the four shots which hit his daughter in her right hand, both feet and her left knee were not aimed.
“I don’t know why I did it, I was no longer myself,” he told the court.
The judge said the then 44-year-old had previously been in charge of his 26-year-old daughter’s life – but that she had started to make her own decisions, and had sacked him as her manager.
“He had dictated her life, he was the boss and the decision-maker,” said the judge as he handed down the sentence.
Prosecutor Ralph Knispel said that El-Halabi had intended to make it so his daughter would never be able to box again.
Addressing the court in September, Rola El-Halabi had described how she was in a changing room preparing for a fight, when her father stormed in with a gun and told everyone else to leave, according to a report in the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
“The door closed and then came the first shot. I had my arms stretched out and then I saw how blood was running out of the glove. Then came the second shot in the left foot, and then he threw me down on the floor.”
She said he had calmly reloaded the gun while talking to her. “'You have ruined everything, look what you have driven me to,’ he said, and then he looked at me ice cold, and shot me in the knee,” she told the court.
He shot her twice more, hitting her in the other foot and her knee. Doctors said she was lucky to walk again, and while she still has severe difficulties with her right hand – her punching hand – she said she was determined to box again.
DPA/The Local/hc
Comments
See Also
Rola El-Halabi was in the German capital’s district court to see Hicham “Roy” El-Halabi sentenced for the attack which he carried out in a rage after his daughter sacked him as her manager and started a romantic relationship with a man who was married at the time.
He admitted the attack of April 1 this year, but said the four shots which hit his daughter in her right hand, both feet and her left knee were not aimed.
“I don’t know why I did it, I was no longer myself,” he told the court.
The judge said the then 44-year-old had previously been in charge of his 26-year-old daughter’s life – but that she had started to make her own decisions, and had sacked him as her manager.
“He had dictated her life, he was the boss and the decision-maker,” said the judge as he handed down the sentence.
Prosecutor Ralph Knispel said that El-Halabi had intended to make it so his daughter would never be able to box again.
Addressing the court in September, Rola El-Halabi had described how she was in a changing room preparing for a fight, when her father stormed in with a gun and told everyone else to leave, according to a report in the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
“The door closed and then came the first shot. I had my arms stretched out and then I saw how blood was running out of the glove. Then came the second shot in the left foot, and then he threw me down on the floor.”
She said he had calmly reloaded the gun while talking to her. “'You have ruined everything, look what you have driven me to,’ he said, and then he looked at me ice cold, and shot me in the knee,” she told the court.
He shot her twice more, hitting her in the other foot and her knee. Doctors said she was lucky to walk again, and while she still has severe difficulties with her right hand – her punching hand – she said she was determined to box again.
DPA/The Local/hc
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.