Porter who stole 6 iPhones from passenger’s bag jailed

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Court of Appeal upheld a verdict issued by the Court of First Instance, sentencing an Asian porter at the Dubai International Airport to three months in prison and fining him Dhs28,000, for stealing 6 mobile phones from a passenger’s bag worth value of the fine.

The convict would be deported after serving the terms, the Court ruled.

Last March, an Asian traveller reported that 6 (iPhone 12) phones had been taken from his bag during the process of transferring it to the plane at the Dubai Airport, noting he discovered that upon his arrival at his homeland.

Accordingly, he decided to return immediately to Dubai and file a report with the airport police, providing the serial numbers of the phones.

A police officer stated that the investigation team was able to identify the person who stole the phones after checking footage of the surveillance cameras. He was a porter working at the airport, the officer added.

After obtaining permission from the Dubai Public Prosecution, the suspect’s house was searched, where one of the stolen phones, sunglasses worth Dhs5,000 and phones of other brands were found, he told the prosecution.

On interrogating the suspect, he confessed to stealing the six phones from a passenger’s bag and selling five of them to a used phone store for Dhs10,000.  He used the money to buy sunglasses worth Dhs5,000, a camera, another phone, a wireless headset and some personal accessories, the court heard.