The UK has urged Saudi Arabia not to go ahead with the paralysing of a Saudi man who was given the unusual punishment by a court for an attack which left another man paralysed. The sentence was said to be an implementation of Islamic law.

Amnesty has compared the sentence to torture.

Speaking to Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight, Princess Basmah Bint Saud, of the Saudi royal family, condemned the sentence.

She said: "Whether that be Christianity, Islam or other religions… we have misunderstood the core of humanity itself. It is all about being human… even in our punishments."