A woman who killed her husband in Sydney acted through a “survival mechanism” developed during years of alleged domestic violence, her defence barrister has told the NSW Supreme Court.
Nirmeen Noufl, 62, is facing sentencing for manslaughter after killing Mahmoud Noufl during an altercation at their home in Greenacre between May 3 and May 4, 2023. His remains were later placed in garbage bags and dispersed across Sydney, and have never been found.
Ms Noufl had initially been charged with murder and was due to stand trial last month. She was instead allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, on the basis that she had acted in excessive self-defence.
Her lawyer said the actions involving Mr Noufl’s body occurred after years of abuse by her husband and during her childhood by her parents.
“There was a survival mechanism which tends to grow in survivors of abuse,” he told the court.
The court previously heard that Ms Noufl had asked her husband for a divorce days before his death after learning he intended to leave her for another woman in Egypt. He refused.
Her barrister said a witness, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had found Ms Noufl whispering to herself and saying prayers in Arabic “in the wrong order” after the killing.
“It was in that point in time and that set of circumstances that she carried out the actions that she did in terms of the body,” he said.
The prosecution disputed the suggestion that Ms Noufl had shown remorse, arguing that she had taken no responsibility until more recent interactions with relatives, after recognising the impact of the killing on her family.
Prosecutor Bill Neill SC said she had “demonstrated not the slightest bit of remorse” for much of the period since the killing and had co-opted Witness A to help dispose of the remains.
He told the court the case could prompt “very real public policy consideration” about how deceased people should be treated after death.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Noufl’s nephew Khaled described the family’s distress at having no grave to visit.
“We have no resting place for him. We have no grave to visit, no soil to touch, and no place to lay flowers or recite our prayers over his body,” he said.
A relative of Ms Noufl told the court that the mother of eight had repeatedly apologised during visits in jail and wished the killing had never happened.
“She has explicitly said that she wishes this never happened,” the relative said under cross-examination.
Ms Noufl kept her head bowed during Monday’s proceedings, with her face obscured by a dark headscarf. She is due to be sentenced on Friday.
