African jailed over assault, illegal trade charges

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced an African driver to one year in jail to be followed by deportation and fined him Dhs4,900 on charges of trying to escape from a police patrol after having deliberately hit and damaged it and attempting to assault and resist its members. The Court of Appeal upheld the verdict.

The court also referred the convict to the Misdemeanours Court to look into the charge of possessing more than 1,000 bottles of liquor in his vehicle for trading purposes.

The case dated back to last January when a police patrol suspected a vehicle driven by an African driver in Al Quoz Industrial Area. After checking the plate number of the vehicle, it was found that the licence had already expired. According to the official documents, as soon as the policeman from the patrol requested the driver to stop and present the registration papers and driving licence, the driver suddenly started moving his vehicle.

The policeman stated in the investigations that the driver did not respond to his request and rammed the patrol from the left side with the intention of escaping, thereby jeopardising the lives of the patrol members. He continued to drive his vehicle recklessly at an excessive speed and deliberately hit the patrol again from the right side, causing it to hit the pavement.

Another policeman stated that he and his colleague followed the driver after hitting their patrol but because he was driving at high speed, his vehicle lost balance, swerved and hit the concrete barriers before it stopped.

Much to their surprise, the driver was seen opening the door of his vehicle and running away as soon as they reached his vehicle. The policeman’s colleague chased him and managed to catch him and bring him under control. The policeman, however, saw the driver resisting his colleague again before he managed to run away but was caught again and led to the police station.

The policeman stated that more than 1,000 bottles of alcoholic beverages were seized from the driver’s vehicle. On interrogation, the driver admitted that he came to the UAE on a visit visa but did not adjust his status, adding that the alcoholic beverages seized inside his vehicle belonged to him and that he used to sell them to interested people. He also confessed to having hit the police patrol and trying to escape from the scene.