Duo locked up for stealing tuna, chocolates

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

Two shoplifters who entered a supermarket and started shoving items inside their pockets were on Sunday sent to spend six months in prison to be followed by deportation.

Both Arab defendants –an office boy, 26, and a compatriot employee, 20- went on a shoplifting spree in the supermarket in Al Muraqqabat at around 8pm on Mar.7, according to records at Al Muraqqabat Police Station.

They snatched six cans of tuna, three chocolate bars, three sachets of juice and a men’s perfume. The items were worth Dhs225. They battered a security guard and dashed out with the items. People pinned them down.

During an escape bid, the duo damaged three computers belonging to the supermarket and the windshield of a car that was parked outside. They were under the influence of alcohol, prosecutors revealed.

At the Dubai Criminal Court on Jun.9, both confessed to attempted theft and abusing alcohol but denied having damaged the car windshield. The office boy admitted to damaging computers and the employee denied it.

On the record, an Indian security guard, 33, narrated that he was on night shift duty at the supermarket’s entrance monitoring clients to make sure they did not walk out with unpaid for items. He spotted the duo.

“I saw them snatching juices, chocolates and tuna cans and hiding them in their pockets.” He prepared to catch them. “They repeatedly punched and slapped me in the face. During the attack, they damaged computers.

“They escaped from me and ran as fast as they could. Shoppers and members of the public pinned them down outside the supermarket,” the security guard explained, adding that the duo resisted trying to free themselves.

They damaged a car that had been parked in the vicinity. The security guard ended up in Rashid hospital over a cut the duo inflicted on his face. It took days to heal. During interrogations, the duo said they were inebriated.