An Uber driver who raped and killed a British government worker in Lebanon has had his death sentence upheld.
Tariq Houshieh was convicted of the brutal sexual assault and murder of Rebecca Dykes in 2019, after she was found dead beside a road in Beirut in 2017.
The 30-year-old Brit had been working for the UK's Department for International Development in the Lebanese capital and was on her way home from a night out with colleagues when Houshieh attacked.
He confessed to assaulting Ms Dykes and strangling her to death with the chord of his hoodie before dumping her body.
He was sentenced to death but appealed. Today his appeal was rejected by a Lebanese court, reports The Daily Mail.
However Lebanon has a de-facto moratorium on executions, with none having been carried out since 2004. Therefore the execution may never take place.
Houshieh was working as an Uber driver despite having a criminal record. After the attack the Lebanon government urged people not to use the firm's taxis.
Members of the country's expat community were left shocked by the incident and said foreigners on the whole feel safe in Lebanon.
Following today's decision, the UK embassy in Beirut said in a statement: "We hope this verdict will bring some closure for Becky's family, for the many around the world who loved Becky, and for all those whose lives she touched through her humanitarian work in Lebanon and elsewhere."
In another statement, published by Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, Dykes' family said the latest verdict came after a number of delays caused by the pandemic, court employee strikes and other issues.
The final ruling is "an occasion to remember Rebecca as a young woman who had dedicated her short life to the victims of war and misery," they said.
"Her family had never seen Rebecca as motivated and happy as she was during her stay in Lebanon."
As part of her work, Ms Dykes had been helping Lebanon to cope with the influx of refugees from the war in neighbouring Syria.
She called an Uber after leaving a bar in the popular Gemmayzeh district of Beirut where she'd been at a colleague's leaving party.
Houshieh picked Ms Dykes up, before assaulting and murdering her. Her body was found close to a motorway on the outskirts of the city.
Police traced Houshieh's car on traffic management CCTV and he was arrested days after the killing.
After her death, Dykes' family and friends set up a foundation in her name "dedicated to the creation of stable communities in Lebanon".
