Bootlegger who hit lieutenant wins leniency

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A man who beat up a police lieutenant after being caught hawking alcohol in a car bearing stolen number plates has convinced a jury to commute his punishment.

The unemployed African defendant, 25, and two fugitives had 32 bottles and 30 cans of alcoholic drinks for sale. They stole four number plates from two cars of an Indian businessman in Al Qusais.

They fixed two on their getaway car and started fetching alcohol from dealers in Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah and selling it to Dubai consumers. On Mar.6 police dispatched a team to intercept them.

He battered the chest and arms of the Emirati lieutenant, 25, at a Dubai street and left him with bruises on both arms and pain in his right thumb, according to a medical examination report.

He confessed before police and prosecutors. The Criminal Court jailed him for one year over assault on an on-duty police officer, six months for stealing number plates and three for having alcohol.

The court also ordered he deported after serving the punishment. He appealed and entreated the jury for leniency. The Dubai Appeals Court has commuted the terms to one year imprisonment.

In prosecution records, the Emirati lieutenant narrated that an informer notified the police that the two stolen number plates had been fixed on a car that bootleggers were using to peddle alcohol.

The informer revealed the car frequented Naif area for alcohol sales on a daily basis between evening and midnight before leaving Dubai via a Nahdah junction. Police lurked in wait at the junction.

Around 1am the police team spotted the defendant driving the car with another person (the mastermind) in the front passenger seat and another man (an accomplice) in the rear seat. They pursued it.

“It stopped in a service road. The mastermind stepped out. He fled after noticing us,” said the lieutenant. “We rushed to the car. The other man jumped out, hurled a liquor bottle and a phone and fled.”

The defendant tried to flee but the lieutenant stopped him. He returned inside, shut the door and tried to speed off. A police car blocked his way. He tried to climb a raised pavement and drive away.

The lieutenant opened the door while the defendant shut it. The defendant kept battering his chest and arms and pushing him. The lieutenant dragged him out of the car. Others helped subdue him.

There were alcoholic drinks on its seats and inside its trunk. An Emirati policeman said, “The defendant revealed he and his cohorts used to make Dhs200 to Dhs300 daily, of which he received a Dhs50 cut.”