Man faces charges of threatening a British broker

Dubai: A court opened the floor for fresh deliberations following the arrest of a suspect, who was being tried in absentia for threatening a British broker over the phone.

The Pakistani man, A.K., was said to have been caught at the Dubai International Airport’s transit terminal since he was wanted to stand trial before the Dubai Court of First Instance.

Prosecutors had accused A.K. [who at the time of prosecution interrogations had left the country and was referred for trial in absentia] and a British woman, G.C., of threatening the broker that they would kill him if he didn’t meet them at a club and pay the woman her Dh10,000 in May.

When she appeared in court, the British woman firmly refuted the charges and pleaded not guilty contending that she did not threaten the broker.

Meanwhile A.K. never showed up at court.

A ruling was expected to be heard Wednesday morning.

Upon pronouncing Wednesday’s ruling, presiding judge Urfan Omar said the defence deliberations will be re-opened since new developments has been introduced to the case.

Two witnesses had earlier testified in court that G.C. didn’t threaten the broker over the phone that she would kill him if he didn’t give back her passport.

The witnesses told the court that A.K. had called up the broker on his own and threatened to kill him without her knowledge or consent.

A witness testified that G.C.’s phone was with A.K. when the latter asked him to lend him his phone to call a taxi.

“He had the woman’s phone in one hand and asked me to use my phone. He took it in the other hand and made a call [later it was discovered to be the claimant]. I heard him having a heated argument. When he finished I sent an SMS to the person whom A.K. had called and apologized for what had happened. G.C. did not have any role as she did not use my phone to threaten the claimant,” said the witness.

The woman’s lawyer Uday Al Kazwini said earlier in court that his client did not threaten the claimant or communicate with him.

“He had retained her passport and owed her money as well. The incident happened when my client was out with friends and she was sharing her problem with them and telling them how frustrated she was because the claimant had retained her passport. My client does not know A.K., who happened to be there coincidentally as he is a friend of a common friend. The fugitive looked drunk and acted on his own … he called up the claimant without G.C.’s consent. My client was not responsible for his actions.”

The British suspect did not commit any wrongdoing and it was A.K. who called up the claimant without any prior notice and without discussing the issue with G.C., argued the lawyer.

The trial continues.