Feb 8, 2018

A Lebanese judge on Thursday requested the death sentence for a man accused of sexually assaulting and killing British embassy worker Rebecca Dykes late last year.

Tarek Hawshiya, a 30-year-old Lebanese, was arrested on December 18 in connection with the murder.

The driver with ride-hailing giant Uber admitted at the time to strangling Dykes after trying to rape her.

On Thursday, the Lebanese judge tasked with investigating the crime recommended the death sentence for Hawshiya.

Judge Hanna Braidi accused Hawshiya of "raping British diplomat Rebecca Dykes and killing her in the neighbourhood of Achrafieh in Beirut in a premeditated and deliberate act."