Taxi driver gets 9-month jail term for theft

Ehab Atta, Ameer Al Sunni, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Criminal Court on Monday sentenced a driver to nine months in jail to be followed by deportation on charges of harassing a woman and stealing her luggage, which contained gifts for her children, before taking her to the airport.

According to the official records, the victim asked the defendant to drive her to Dubai Airport but he stopped in some area near Jebel Ali where he harassed her and ordered her to get down after stealing three mobile phones and Dhs3,000 from her and taking her suitcase, which contained her clothes, shoes and sweets for her children.

A police officer testified that the victim was so devastated that her statement could be taken only after two days during which she remained at the police station. He added that the victim then told the police about the taxi details and the police were able to identify the defendant, who was arrested before leaving the country with the stolen suitcase.

In another case, The Fujairah Criminal Court started trail of an Asian in his forties on fraud charges.

According to the official records, the victim received a phone call from the defendant who introduced himself as an employee of a telecommunication company and told him that he won a cash prize, asking him to complete several procedures for receiving it.

The victim trusted the defendant and did everything he told him to do including his request to deposit Dhs46,000 into a bank account  that he sent to him.

When the victim called to ask about his cash prize, he found that the defendant’s mobile phone was powered off. After failing to reach the defendant, the Asian discovered that he fell victim to him and called the police who arrested the defendant and brought him to the courts of law.

Recently, a 34-year-old Asian driver was arrested and referred to the Public Prosecution, which referred him to the Criminal Court, for sexually harassing a seven-year-old girl under duress taking advantage of her being alone while transporting her.