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Britain said on Friday it hoped a ruling by a Lebanese court to uphold the conviction of an Uber driver for the 2017 rape and murder of a British woman in Lebanon would bring closure for her family.

The British embassy said in a statement that Lebanon's court of cassation rejected an appeal by Tariq Houshieh against his conviction which followed his confession to raping and strangling 30-year-old Rebecca Dykes.

The man convicted of the murder of the UK embassy staffer in Beirut was an Uber driver with a criminal record.

The man, identified as Tarek H. by authorities in Lebanon, worked for the international ride-hailing company and the victim, Rebecca Dykes, may have been a customer.

He was sentenced to death in 2019, although Lebanon has an unofficial moratorium and has not carried out any executions since 2004, Human Rights Watch says.

"We hope this verdict will bring some closure for Becky's family, for the many around the world who loved Becky, and for all those whose lives she touched through her humanitarian work in Lebanon and elsewhere," the embassy said after the ruling.

Dykes worked at the embassy in Lebanon for Britain's Department for International Development. 

Her murder shocked the expat community in Lebanon, which has a low crime rate despite sporadic political violence. Apalled Lebanese and expats in Lebanon expressed a shattered sense of security on social media at the time, calling for more vigilance and precautions among women.