The “woeful” punishment handed down to the Scottish killer of a father who died on a gas rig off the coast of Qatar is to be appealed by the victim’s family.
In the quarters of their rig in the Persian Gulf, Robbie Robson, 38, was brutally murdered by his coworker and roommate, Scott Forrest, using a ten-kilogram iron weight. Qatari courts previously informed Robson’s family that their loved one’s killer might be sentenced to death if proven guilty of murder.
The news that he had been found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to a mere ten years in prison stunned everyone. The sentence was handed down in December. On Thursday, an appeal against that punishment will be submitted.
After having an earlier appeal dismissed in January, they have been informed that these current hearings will serve as their final appeal.
Kristie Graham, who is Mr. Robson’s partner, stated they have been battling for justice through the appeals process since the end of last year, and they have been crushed by the leniency given to Robbie’s killer.
She says the fact that the offender has received such a minor punishment compounds the intolerability of their lives devastation.
Reading the many accounts of what transpired that night has been an ordeal our family has never wanted any other family to go through. They have complete hope that the Qatari legal system will acknowledge, after this last appeal, that the terrible sentence must be reevaluated in order to achieve genuine justice for Robbie and to convey a message to the rest of the globe.
On the Seafox Burj gas rig in December 2022, Mr. Robson was bludgeoned to death while employed by Film-Ocean, an underwater inspection firm located in Aberdeenshire. His attacker used submarine weights. He struck him around twenty times, according to the victim’s relatives.
It is suspected that 43-year-old Forrest was suffering from anxiety and stress due to living in tight quarters.
The family is suing his employer in civil court in light of evidence presented during the trial.
