2 shoplifters incarcerated for tuna, chocolates theft

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

Two drunk shoplifters caught red-handed inside a supermarket shoving items into their pockets must see out their prison terms, a jury ruled. 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 lifted 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 the resistance and botched struggle to escape, the duo damaged three computers belonging to the supermarket and the windshield of a car that was parked outside. They were under alcohol influence.  At the Dubai Criminal Court, both men confessed to attempted theft and abusing alcohol but denied having damaged the car windshield. The office boy acknowledged damaging computers and the employee denied it.

The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced them to six months behind bars to be followed by deportation. They appealed for leniency. However, the Dubai Appeals Court has rejected their pleas and upheld the ruling. In prosecution records, 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.” They damaged a car that had been parked in the vicinity while trying to escape.

The security guard ended up in Rashid hospital over a cut the duo inflicted on the left side of his face, according to a medical report. It took days to heal. During interrogations, the confessed to the drunken robbery attempt.