Worker tries to kill chef over animal feed

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A farm worker jumped inside a vehicle and ran over a rival chef for placing livestock feed inside a pot, a jury heard on Tuesday.

The 58-year-old Asian defendant loathed the cuisine of the Asian chef and wished that the latter quit. He usually threatened to run over him to death for preparing and serving unsavory meals, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

On Jan.2 the chef put food waste inside a pot and asked the defendant to feed it to the sponsor’s livestock. The defendant protested saying the pot was dirty and questioned why the chef put the waste inside the pot in the first place.

They traded obscene insults with each one involving the other’s parents. The defendant entered the sponsor’s vehicle, accelerated, knocked the chef and ran over him breaking his arms. He then reversed with the aim of killing him.

The murder bid fell flat after the chef’s workmate stood between the vehicle and the chef who struggled and managed to run away. Prosecutors referred the defendant to the court. They charged him with attempted murder.

He denied and contended that he had disputed with the chef and the dispute erupted into a fight. “I inflicted him with injuries by mistake. I did not have any intention to kill him. I was driving away when I knocked him.”

Prosecutors said the defendant during prosecution interrogations confessed to have ran over the chef.

 They demanded a rigorous punishment. The ruling will be on May.21.

On the record, the chef said that while at his sponsor’s house he placed rice inside a pot for the defendant to feed it to the sponsor’s sheep as usual. The defendant refused and demanded to know why he put it in the pot.

A heated argument broke out. The defendant insulted the chef’s parents. The chef returned insult for insult. The defendant walked out boiling with anger and sat inside the vehicle. The chef finished his tasks in the kitchen.

“I was going to the store to fetch soap when I spotted him inside the vehicle. He suddenly accelerated and deliberately knocked me. I tried to escape but the car hit me. I fell down sustaining fractures in both upper arms.

“He reversed to knock me again. I fled. He picked a stick to flog me. The house’s inhabitants seized him and contacted police and ambulance services. He had wanted to kill me. He was nervous. He always vowed to fatally run over me on grounds he disliked my cuisine.”