Man jailed for 18 years over murder of UoB student in Jerusalem

A man has been jailed for eighteen years after he was found guilty of the first degree murder of University of Birmingham student Hannah Bladon.

Palestinian Jamil Tamimi, 59, was charged with murder and sentenced to 18 years in jail.

The 21 year old Theology and Religion student was on an exchange programme with the Rothberg International School at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem when the incident took place on a light rail train near the Old City on Good Friday in 2017.

Tamimi was offered a lesser sentence of 18 years, and the prosecutor explained his decision to not seek a life sentence: "This was not a terrorist incident… This was a terrible murder carried out by a mentally ill person", according to a court transcript.

The lawyer of Hannah Bladon's parents, Maurice Hirsch, told Reuters: "For the family, it makes no difference whether this was a terror attack or just another crazed murderer.

"They are outraged by the leniency of the sentence. They expected that Hannah’s murderer would spent the rest of his life behind bars."

Following her death many University of Birmingham tutors paid tribute to Hannah, including her personal tutor Dr Andrew Davies, who said she was the "brightest, most enthusiastic and happiest student".