Three pilots behind bars for nightclub fight

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

Three pilots who battered two men during a row over a bottle of water inside a Dubai nightclub will spend three months in the dock.

The Dutch defendant, 42, Spanish colleague, 43, and the latter’s countryman, 43, battered a Lebanese sales manager, 35. One of them smashed a glass on his head, prosecutors told the Dubai Criminal Court on Mar.17.

The defendant pounced on him, restrained him and enabled the others to rain kicks on him. He sustained multiple injuries and a 5 per cent permanent deformity. They did not intend to cause the deformity, prosecutors clarified.

They battered a Lebanese commercial director, 34, and kicked him as well. He sustained injuries that took more than 20 days to heal. They denied the charges during court questioning but confessed to have abused alcohol.

The director was also accused of alcohol abuse, a charge he confessed to. The court has imprisoned the three pilots for three months to be followed by deportation. It referred the alcohol abuse charges to the Misdemeanours Court.

In police and prosecution records, the pilots were sitting at a table inside the nightclub of a hotel in Marina when the commercial director picked a bottle of water from it. They charged at him, pushed him and kicked him repeatedly.

“They assaulted me on various parts of my body,” the director complained, adding that he sustained a dislocated shoulder and torn muscle. He underwent several physical therapy sessions for a period of six months for his shoulder area to heal.

The manager said, “The defendants suddenly attacked us. I did not know the reason. One smashed a glass on my head. I bled. The Dutchman sat on my chest while the others kicked me. I got a cut on the head as a result of the glass strike. I also got two fractures in my right foot.”