The son of a billionaire suspected of murdering a Norwegian student in London is stuck leading an isolated life in Yemen after fleeing the UK, a relative has claimed.
Farouk Abdulhak is accused of the rape and murder of Martine Vik Magnussen, 23, in Mayfair in March 2008.
He fled to Yemen via Egypt in the hours after her death and despite efforts by Martine’s family and the UK and Norwegian authorities has not returned to Britain to face the charges.
An anonymous family member has told a new documentary on Discovery+ that he mostly remains at home under guard and has few friends.
The programme features the first up-to-date picture of him to be published since Martine’s death.
They said: “Farouk’s entire life is staying at home. There is no socialising. There is no going to public places.
“As a close family member, I’ve known Farouk his entire life and I talk to him almost every day. Nobody comes there. He doesn’t really have any friends.
“He’s got, I think, like one guard, sometimes two. That’s basically his friends.
“Everything is brought into the house. Delivered or picked up. But he’s got a patio. It’s mostly just a place to get a little bit of sun and air.
“Other than that, he’s got his computer and his movies. He spends his life on the internet.
“His life was over after that night, obviously.
“I think the longer he stays there you just develop that alternative reality. ‘Maybe if I just wait this out, time will take care of it’.”
Farouk Abdulhak is the son of the late billionaire Shaher Abdulhak, who was known as the king of sugar because the source of part of his fortune was soft drinks.
He was friends with Martine, who was studying at Regent’s Business School and had just come top of her class when she died.
A group of students were out celebrating finishing their end-of-term exams at the Maddox nightclub in Mayfair on March 14, 2008, but Ms Magnussen vanished and her body was found two days later in the basement area of flats where Farouk Abdulhak lived.
Her flatmate Thale Marie Lassen told the documentary that he had tried to kiss Martine in the weeks before her death, but she had rebuffed him and said they could be friends.
She said: “We teased her about Farouk, saying he was really into her. But she was really good at friend-zoning guys pretty quickly.
“He tried to kiss her once. It happened a few weeks prior to the murder.
“She rejected him, saying they could be friends and hang out, but that was it.”
Martine’s father, Odd Petter Magnussen, told the programme that he will “keep fighting” to get Farouk Abdulhak back to the UK to face the allegations.
He said: “The worst thing to me was Martine’s funeral. To see my two poor children stand there and lay sand on the urn, that was almost too much to bear.
“And that’s why the suspect at least, at least, will go back to England and give an account.
“Anything else is utterly unacceptable. I will not stand for it and I will not let it happen.”
The five part documentary Martine: Chasing Justice is available to stream on Discovery+.
