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Drug addict convicted of trying to murder sisters in London hotel
A man is facing a life-long jail sentence after being found guilty of the attempted murder of three British tourists at a London hotel.
Philip Spence, 32, bludgeoned the three sisters with a claw hammer after walking into their room at the four-star Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch in April.
All three Emirati women survived the attack, but one has been left confined to a hospital bed and the others suffered life-changing injuries.
Spence, from north London, pleaded guilty to the attack but denied attempted murder.
However, Southwark Crown Court was told by Mark Chishty of the Met Police that Spence, a drug addict, used an "extraordinary level of violence" on the sisters as he ransacked their hotel room.
He fled with a haul of iPads, jewellery and mobile phones, dumping the claw hammer he had used in the attack just outside the hotel.
The court heard how the sisters had been in bed with their children, having left the door of the room open for a fourth sister to return. When one of the woke to find Spence rifling through their belongings he began his frenzied attack.
Judge Anthony Leonard QC told Spence he could face life in prison for the attacks.
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Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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