Egypt cop gets 15 years for killing detainee

Cairo - An Egyptian court sentenced a policeman on Monday to 15 years in prison for shooting dead a man in detention, judicial sources said.

The low-ranking policeman shot dead the detainee in April inside a Cairo police station.

They had a history of disputes and had fought before the policeman, Ahmed al-Tayyib, detained him over an outstanding warrant last April, hours before he shot him dead, according to court evidence.

The sentence by the Cairo court can be appealed.

It was among the harshest in years against a policeman, with dozens in particular acquitted of charges of violence or brutality against protesters.

Another court had sentenced two policemen in April to 10 years in prison for beating to death Khaled Said, a young man who’s killing in 2010 helped spark an uprising more than a year later that unseated president Hosni Mubarak.