Enniskerry Man Gets Life For Taking A Life

Bashabsheh Alshwawrah attends court 2022

t was a murder that shocked the entire country when, back on Christmas Eve 2021, Bahaalddin Alshwawrah killed his wife, Zeinat.

Claiming she was having an affair, Alshwawrah stabbed his wife 14 times at their Enniskerry home, and recorded her on his mobile phone as she lay dying.

With an address at Park Na Sillogue Court, the 45-year-old man was charged at the same address with Zeinat Bashabsheh’s murder on December 24th, 2021.

And now Bahaalddin Alshwawrah has been sentenced to life in prison, Mr Justice Tony Hunt stating at Monday’s sentencing, “It’s hard to see what can be salvaged from this wreckage”, before wishing the family “well in trying to put this behind them and move forward in life”.

For their part, the family issued an impact statement, stating simply that “our beloved Zeinat was brutally taken from us”.

Alshwawrah was due to face his charges on May 12th but changed his plea to guilty in April, with Detective Sergeant Gerard Brennan explaining to court on Monday what happened on that fateful night. It was on Christmas Eve 2021 that the defendant knocked on his neighbour’s window, shouting that he had killed wife before calmly walking back to his own house. When two neighbours entered the house, they saw Ms Bashabsheh slumped on the floor in the kitchen with multiple stab wounds to her torso whilst the Alshwawrah was on his phone, shouting, “I hope she dies”.

The defendant later claimed that he had been a victim of violence by his wife on previous occasions, but no evidence of this was found. Gardaí also obtained detailed evidence that contradicted many of Alshwawrah’s claims, evidence that proved he was aggressive and controlling of his wife.

In a letter of apology, the defendant apologised to his children for having to grow up without their parents, stating, “I took away my wife’s life and I will never forgive myself…”