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| Widow 'guilty' of murdering earl | Widow 'guilty' of murdering earl |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| The widow of the Earl of Shaftesbury and her brother have each been jailed for 25 years after being found guilty of his murder by a French court. | |
| Anthony Ashley-Cooper's third wife, former nightclub hostess Jamila M'Barek, 45, had denied paying her brother Mohammed to murder her husband. | Anthony Ashley-Cooper's third wife, former nightclub hostess Jamila M'Barek, 45, had denied paying her brother Mohammed to murder her husband. |
| They had claimed the 10th Earl of Shaftesbury, who had homes in Hove and London, died during a drunken row. | They had claimed the 10th Earl of Shaftesbury, who had homes in Hove and London, died during a drunken row. |
| His badly-decomposed body was found in a remote ravine in the Alps in 2005. | His badly-decomposed body was found in a remote ravine in the Alps in 2005. |
| I don't understand how people can place no value on human life, and I truly pity them Nicholas Ashley-Cooper | |
| The prosecution said Ms M'Barek paid her brother 150,000 euros (£105,000) to kill the earl, because he was in the process of divorcing her and denying her the chance to inherit valuable properties in France and Ireland. | |
| The 66-year-old playboy aristocrat went missing from his hotel on the French Riviera on 5 November 2004. | The 66-year-old playboy aristocrat went missing from his hotel on the French Riviera on 5 November 2004. |
| The body was found five months later. | |
| Mr M'Barek, 43, admitted killing him, but said he strangled him "accidentally". | Mr M'Barek, 43, admitted killing him, but said he strangled him "accidentally". |
| "I did everything I could to try and save him - I gave him mouth-to-mouth," he told the court in Nice. | "I did everything I could to try and save him - I gave him mouth-to-mouth," he told the court in Nice. |
| Ms M'Barek denied she had married the Earl for money, saying she had always been prosperous and marrying him was a "curse". | Ms M'Barek denied she had married the Earl for money, saying she had always been prosperous and marrying him was a "curse". |
| Anthony Ashley-Cooper and Jamila M'Barek were married in Holland | |
| Nicholas Ashley-Cooper, the late peer's second son and now the 12th Earl of Shaftesbury, said he did not believe Ms M'Barek ever loved his father. | Nicholas Ashley-Cooper, the late peer's second son and now the 12th Earl of Shaftesbury, said he did not believe Ms M'Barek ever loved his father. |
| "I believe that she is manipulative and scheming, and ultimately an evil person," he said. | |
| "You caused the death of an innocent man and you caused my family a lifetime of hurt," he told her. | |
| The 29-year-old sat in court throughout the four-day hearing with his mother Christina Cassell and aunt, Lady Frances Ashley-Cooper. | |
| "During this trial we have heard the words of Mohammed and Jamila and we have seen the evidence brought before us," he said. | |
| "It further confirms the type of people we thought they were - cold, deceitful, and without compassion for a man they murdered and betrayed. | |
| "I don't understand how people can place no value on human life, and I truly pity them." | |
| He also rejected the apology Mohammed offered the family in court earlier this week, saying: "I do not forgive him, and will never forgive him as long as he does not admit to the murder of my father." |