Welder immured for bid to kill roommate

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

An inebriated welder who stabbed his enemy roommate for locking him outside at night will spend two years behind bars, a court has ruled.

The Asian defendant, 36, tried to kill the Indian, 23, inside the labourers’ barracks of a company in Al Qusais around 12:10am on Sept.7, 2018. The murder bid fell flat after an ambulance rushed the victim to hospital.

The defendant reportedly confessed before police and prosecutors. The Dubai Criminal Court jailed him for two years plus deportation. Prosecutors appealed and on June 23 sought he be handed a tougher penalty.

The defendant refuted the attempted murder charge and confessed to abusing two cups of alcohol. The Appeals Court has upheld the ruling but referred the alcohol abuse charge to the Misdemeanours Court. A Comorian corporal said, “The defendant told me he and the victim abused alcohol after which he demanded the victim to pay Dhs100 he owed him. The victim said he did not have it. He stabbed him out of anger.”

On the record, the victim, the defendant and three other roommates took supper at around 11.30pm and went to bed. The defendant woke up at midnight and went to the washroom. The victim went to the same.

The victim explained, “I returned to the room and found the lights off. I looked at the defendant’s bed and saw his blanket heaped. I thought he returned to sleep and covered himself. I locked the door and fell asleep.” “Ten minutes later, I woke up to the door being banged. I and a countryman opened the door. I was astonished to see the defendant standing outside. He was disappointed because he had been locked outside.”

The victim apologised and explained to the defendant he had spotted a heap on his bed and thought he was sleeping. The countryman rebuked him for having banged the door and told him to never repeat it.

In a fit of rage the defendant picked up a kitchen knife and tried to knife the victim. The countryman grabbed it from him, returned it to the table and warned him against committing such a violent act.

The victim and the countryman returned to bed. “The defendant suddenly picked the knife again, came and struck my stomach twice, then my left upper arm and left armpit,” complained the victim before prosecutors.  The roommates woke up to his screams. One of them grabbed the knife from the defendant. Others seized and handed him to a police patrol. The roommates revealed there were earlier disputes between the two.