Labourers jailed for knife attack, robbery

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

Two members of a gang of thieving labourers who intercepted, knifed and robbed a businessman will spend one year in jail, a court has ruled.

The Asian defendant, 28, and his colleague, 26, with the help of fugitive accomplices attacked the Bangladeshi businessman, 36, inside a dark side street in Al Rifa’a area on the early morning of Aug.14, records showed.

They restrained him and battered him. The defendant pulled out a knife and stabbed him. They decamped with his Dhs5,280. He complained to Al Rifa’a Police Station. The Criminal Court convicted and jailed them.

Before police and prosecutors, the victim narrated that he was walking along the side street at around 5am when he stumbled on nine Asian men. They asked him whether he had any sum of money with him.

He told them it was none of their business. They surrounded, punched and kicked him until he fell down. He shouted calling upon his friend at a nearby restaurant to rescue him. They dragged him inside an alley.  

They continued assaulting him. The defendant pulled out the knife and stabbed him on the arm and shoulder from behind. He gave up the resistance. The defendant’s colleague beat him and clutched him.

A third attacker frisked him and removed the money from his trousers’ pocket. They fled the scene. An Emirati sergeant said investigations confirmed the defendant and his colleague were part of the gang.

“Upon their arrest, they denied taking part in the robbery. However, the victim managed to recognise the duo during an identity parade.”

An Indian waiter at a restaurant in the neighbourhood said he was on duty when he spotted (through the window) three men raining slaps and punches on a man who appeared covering his head with his hands.

He appeared to be trying to ward off the blows. They ran away. A report from the department of forensic science and criminology showed he sustained bruises as a result of the blows.