A Pakistani man has been sentenced to nine years in prison by an Amsterdam court for killing his wife. He is said to have beaten her to death with a cricket bat in 2007 after she asked for a divorce.

The Public Prosecutor’s office had demanded a sentence of 14 years for murder, but the court ruled that only manslaughter had been proved. The judge spoke of a gruesome act, said the man had deprived the couple’s four children of their mother and noted that at no point had he shown any sign of remorse for what he had done.

The nephew of the husband, who had also been accused of taking part in the killing, was released for lack of evidence.

Photo of court in Amsterdam by Shirley de Jong (flickr)