Servant ‘let sadistic Saudi prince beat him to death in hotel room'

A servant allegedly beaten and strangled by a Saudi prince died without putting up a fight, the Old Bailey heard today.

Bandar Abdulaziz, 32, was so worn down by "sadistic" abuse that he "let the defendant kill him", jurors were told.

Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud, 34, is accused of murdering Mr Abdulaziz in the room they shared at the Landmark Hotel in Marylebone on 15 February.

In his closing speech to the jury, Jonathan Laidlaw QC, prosecuting, said: "So worn down by the violence, so subservient and submissive had Bandar become that he was incapable of any effective resistance.

"He was killed without apparently ever having fought back because the defendant was completely unharmed, without any mark at all, when he was examined at the police station."

He said photographs of Mr Abdulaziz stored on a mobile phone proved that there was a "sexual element" to the abuse.

Saud denies murder and a second charge of grievous bodily harm with intent in relation to an earlier alleged attack in a hotel lift.

The case continues.