Two British nurses accused of murdering a colleague in Saudi Arabia are facing an agonising wait to discover whether a Saudi judge will find them guilty.
In a last-minute move, lawyers defending Ms Deborah Parry and Ms Lucille McLauchlan presented the court in the Saudi city of Khobar with new evidence from Australia.
Ms Parry's brother-in-law, Mr Jonathan Ashbee, said: "The judge has closed the case and has gone away to consider the verdict, which we think will take about a week."
The two women are charged with murdering an Australian nurse, Ms Yvonne Gilford, at the King Fahd Military Medical Complex. Her body was found in her room with multiple stab wounds last December 11th.
Under Saudi Arabia's Islamic law murderers can be beheaded, but only if the victim's closest relatives unanimously demand capital punishment. Defence lawyers yesterday gave the court fresh evidence about the mental competence of Ms Gilford's 84-year-old mother, Muriel, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
Ms Gilford's brother, Mr Frank Gilford, has called for the death penalty on his mother's behalf as well as his own on the grounds that she is incapable of taking a decision. But on Friday an Australian court ordered Mr Gilford to refrain from calling for the execution of the two British nurses until the issue of his mother's mental competence was resolved.
Salah Hejailan, the law firm acting for Ms Parry and Ms McLauchlan, said in a statement issued in Riyadh last week that it had obtained evidence about the mental competence of Mrs Muriel Gilford, which would be put to the court yesterday. The law firm said the evidence was "a major breakthrough", but did not elaborate.
Relatives of the nurses meanwhile are worried about their health, which they say is deteriorating in prison. Ms McLauchlan's fiance, Mr Grant Ferrie, visited the women on Saturday and again yesterday.