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Dramatic court scenes as Al-Mdwali family recounts horrifying stabbing death

Tensions between the family of murdered Canberra mother-of-three Sabah Al-Mdwali and her convicted killer and husband erupted in the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Family members of Ms Al-Mdwali read out victim impact statements detailing the horrific impact the killing has had on her children and the rest of the family since her murder in March 2015.

Her then-husband Maged Mohommed Ahmed Al-Harazi, 36, had previously been found guilty of the horrific murder of his then-wife, stabbing her 57 times as she tried to breastfeed her infant son.

But as Ms Al-Mdwali's brother read out a victim impact statement from her father in court today, Al-Harazi started yelling at the brother in Arabic, and saying in English he was "saying bad things" about him.

The father's statement had said Al-Harazi had killed her in a "horrible manner that God will never accept" and the news of Ms Al-Mdwali's death was a "real catastrophe" for her father.

Al-Harazi's comments provoked an outburst from one of Ms Al-Mdwali's sisters, who swore and spat at Al-Harazi as she was removed from the court, before returning later to read out statements.

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Ms Al-Mdwali's family also spoke of how the murder had left her three children without their mother and the knowledge that their mother had been killed by their father.

Her sister said that she knew Ms Al-Mdwali had not been happy in the relationship, saying that he had been violent towards her, but that she never thought he would kill her.

"She was killed by a man who was her husband, by a man who she defended, by a man who shared a room and a bed with," she told the court.

"We need justice for all the women who live in violence."

Her family also spoke of the further impact of Al-Harazi's false claim that she was murdered by her brother and father.

Her sister became tearful as she said that when she found out the way her sister was murdered, she told the court: "she didn't deserve to die this way, no-one does".

After a lunch adjournment, defence barrister Ken Archer called Al-Harazi to the stand.

Al-Harazi made a series of claims including that he was linked to various religious figures and had received a message from God while in prison, that his wife and her family was "being punished by God".

He also claimed he was innocent of Ms Al-Mdwali's murder, despite the court already finding him guilty, and that "she deserved it", because God had told him she had had another relationship - a claim without any evidence to support it.

While a sentence was originally expected to be handed down on Tuesday, it was delayed, after Mr Archer asked the court for more time to consider recently-obtained medical records from Yemen detailing Al-Harazi's health at the time of the murder.

Those records will be reviewed by a psychiatrist each for the defence and prosecution, before the case returns to court in August this year.