Bahaalddin Alshwawrah jailed for life after murdering wife

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Bahaalddin Alshwawrah was jailed for life at the Central Criminal Court after pleading guilty to murdering Zeinat Bashabsheh, whom he stabbed 14 times at their Enniskerry home on Christmas Eve 2021. The court heard that he recorded her as she lay dying and did not offer assistance.

The court heard that Alshwawrah had alleged his wife was having an affair and sent videos of her dying to online accounts. A detective said evidence contradicted many of Alshwawrah’s claims that he had been subjected to violence by his wife; no evidence supporting those claims was found. The detective also said Bashabsheh had obtained an interim barring order against him in 2018, alleging he had stabbed her.

In sentencing, Mr Justice Tony Hunt described the case as very upsetting and said it defied belief that fatal wounds had been inflicted while Alshwawrah recorded and shared the incident. He imposed the mandatory sentence of life in prison.