Family of British worker killed on gas rig appeals against killer’s sentence

NT Bureau
Doha

The family of a British worker who was killed on a gas rig are appealing his killer’s sentence, the BBC has reported.

Robbie Robson died in 2022 after being beaten with a 10kg iron weight by roommate Scott Forrest.
Forrest, who worked with Robson on a rig off the coast of Qatar, was convicted of manslaughter by Qatari courts in December and sentenced to 10 years in jail, the BBC report adds.

Robson’s partner Kristie Graham said the family’s appeal was their “only hope” of ensuring true justice was served.

According to reports, the family were initially told the 38-year-old’s killer could face the death penalty if found guilty of murder, and later learned he was sentenced to 10 years in jail.

An appeal against the sentence is currently under way, after a previous appeal was rejected in January, and this is the last appeal.

“As a family we have had to read all the detailed reports into what happened that evening and it is something we would wish on no other family,” Graham, mother of Robson’s two-year-old son, said.
Graham is calling for the initial charge of murder to be upheld.

“A more severe punishment should be imposed to reflect the gravity of the crime and the loss our family endures.”

Robson was bludgeoned to death in December 2022 while working on the Seafox Burj for Film-Ocean, an Aberdeenshire-based underwater inspection company.

Forrest, who also attacked another co-worker, is said to have been suffering from stress and anxiety over cramped living conditions when he killed Robson in their shared accommodation.

The 43-year-old, from Maud in Aberdeenshire, hit Robson 20 times with a weight used in submarines, according to the victim’s family, who are also pursuing a civil claim against Film-Ocean, the BBC report added.