THE FAMILY of an Australian nurse murdered in Saudi Arabia said yesterday they will not intervene to save two British nurses charged for the murder and who face the death penalty if found guilty.
Mr Frank Gilford, of Jamestown, South Australia, brother of the victim, Ms Yvonne Gilford, told British newspapers: "Whoever did this did not give clemency to my sister and I don't think I would offer clemency, bearing in mind the way my sister was murdered.
Ms Gilford was reportedly stabbed four times, battered with a hammer and smothered. Her body was found in her dormitory room at a Saudi hospital on December 11th.
Under the Islamic law of Saudi Arabia, if the two were found guilty of murder, they could face the death penalty but the victim's family can plead for clemency.
Ms Deborah Perry (41) from the Midlands, and Ms Lucille McLaughlin (31), from Dundee Scotland, were charged on Christmas Eve with killing Ms Gilford (55), a senior operating room nurse at King Fahd Military Medical Complex in Dhahran.
The two nurses were arrested after they tried to use the dead nurse's credit card and they have confessed to the murder, according to a Saudi official.
Ms McLaughlin's father, Stan said he had spoken to his daughter in a phone conversation arranged through the Saudi authorities and the British consul, Mr Lawson Ross, who visited both women on Christmas Eve.
Mr John McLaughlin (28), of Dundee, denied newspaper reports that his sister had been sacked from her last nursing job, describing them as "untrue".
Dundee Teaching Hospitals say a nurse called Lucille McLaughlin was dismissed in May 1996 for gross misconduct following a police investigation. But the organisation says it cannot link the former employee with the woman held in Saudi Arabia.