Esam Moshi Saddam’s music teacher jailed in Australia

A former music teacher to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was Friday jailed for five years in Australia for terrorizing two elderly women. Esam Moshi, who reportedly fled Iraq with his family because of their connection to the executed strongman, pleaded guilty at a county court in the southeastern state of Victoria to two counts of aggravated burglary. The court heard that Moshi, 36, twice attacked women who offered him water after he told them his car had broken down. In the first instance, he threw an 87-year-old against a bench, causing her to fall, but ran off when she said her son would be returning soon. The next day, he used the same tactic to enter the home of a 60-year-old, pushing her to the floor and attempting to grab her necklace, the court heard. Judge Michael Bourke was told that Moshi was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time, but said this was no excuse. “The victims were exceedingly vulnerable,” he said, according to the Australian Associated Press. “It must have been terrifying.” During his trial, the court heard that Moshi grew up in Baghdad and taught music to Saddam and his family. He fled to Australia after the fall of the regime.