Man jailed for friend’s murder over unpaid debt

Dubai: A jobless man has been jailed for three years for stabbing his friend to death after they got into a fight over the sale of a motorcycle.

The 18-year-old Emirati defendant got into a fist-fight with his countryman outside a coffee shop in Dubai in April 2014 contending that the latter had failed to pay for the motorbike he had bought from him. Friends intervened and stopped the scuffle.

The defendant threatened to head to his friend’s house and take back his motorbike because the latter had failed to pay the second instalment. A fight ensued, ending with the latter’s death.

The Dubai Court of First Instance handed the defendant a lenient punishment due to his young age (under 21).

The accused entered a not guilty plea and rejected the charge of premeditatedly murdering his friend.

Records stated that the accused had a premeditated intention to commit murder as he had hidden a knife under his clothes before he repeatedly stabbed his friend in Al Muraqqabat.

The defendant had sold his motorbike to his friend, who paid the defendant Dh4,000 as a first instalment and they agreed on a second instalment.

A policeman said friends and relatives rushed the injured man to hospital immediately after the attack but he couldn’t be saved.

“Prior investigations with the persons, who rushed the victim to hospital revealed that the victim, his cousin and a friend were at a shisha cafe on Shaikh Zayed Road before the incident took place. Witnesses said the defendant’s friend called up the victim to ask him about his plans to pay the second instalment for the motorbike. Shortly after that the suspect and his friend arrived at the cafe and when they [the defendant and victim] tried to discuss the matter in a parking lot, they fought but their friends stopped them. Witnesses further claimed that the fight resumed in front of a friend’s house where there were attempts to resolve the matter amicably. The defendant stabbed the victim when they were fighting, according to witnesses,” the police lieutenant said.

The accused was quoted telling prosecutors that the victim had repeatedly tried to avoid him in order not to pay him.

The ruling remains subject to appeal within 13 days.