Dubai: London Metropolitan Police have rounded up a number of suspects on the heels of a violent home invasion and robbery of an Emirati couple on Tuesday in central London.
In this latest case, the Emirati husband Ali Mohammad Al Tamimi was asked to identify suspects from a police lineup late Thursday, that may have been part of a four-member gang that smashed in the flat door with guns, hammers and knives while three other gang members waited outside as lookouts.
In an exclusive telephone conversation with Gulf News, Al Tamimi said on Thursday that Scotland Yard asked him to go a police station to attend a line-up. During the home invasion, Al Tamimi managed to pull a mask off one of the intruders and saw the man’s face.
Identifying at least one suspect could be the critical clue authorities need to crack the case.
The violent invasion was the second such incident since April 7 when a hammer-wielding man bludgeoned three Emirati sisters in The Cumblerland hotel, an offence that has resulted in the arrests of four men and a woman on charges of attempted murder and handling stolen goods.
Al Tamimi said that London police were dealing with him “very politely, respectfully, and in a modern and professional way”.
Safe apartment
He and his wife are glad for the warm reception they have received from UK authorities, he said.
The UAE diplomatic mission, meanwhile, has moved the couple to a safe apartment in London near the UAE Embassy until the probe into the home invasion and robbery can be concluded. The couple is also waiting new replacement passports to replace theirs stolen along with mobile phones, jewellery, cash and credit cards.
“The UAE embassy and UAE government have provided us with more than our needs,” Al Tamimi said. “They took us to the hospital and have been serving us breakfast, lunch and dinner in our new place. They are keeping cars with security guards to keep us safe.”
Al Tamimi said the support received from UAE’s top leaders who reached out in personal phone calls, has gone a long way to helping them put the incident behind them.
He thanked Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs for “immediately following up our case and keeping in touch with us from the first moment until now”.
Member of Parliament
“It means a lot to me when I had received a call from our rulers and shaikhs to check on our condition,” Al Tamimi said, adding that Shaikh Abullah had kept in touch with his children in UAE.
The couple went to London two weeks ago to visit the wife of an uncle who received treatment. This latest trip, Al Tamimi said, is one of many over the years in London were they always felt safe.
Mark Field, the Member of Parliament for the London district where both violent robberies occurred, told Gulf News yesterday: “The truth is that violent crime is now at a 30 year low in London, but I appreciate that will come as little consolation either to the relatives of those caught up in these recent horrific attacks or those contemplating coming here from the Gulf on vacation.” “The importance of high quality tourism from across the globe to my constituency means that I shall take the heartfelt concerns alerted to me by Gulf News in my regular contact with the Westminster Borough Commander,” he said.
With inputs by Mick O’Reilly, Senior Associate Editor
