UAE | Crime

Employee accused of taking drugs in Dubai hotel room where girlfriend died of an overdose

Paramedics failed to save man’s girlfriend who died of an overdose

By Bassam Za’za’, Legal and Court Correspondent
Published: 21:00 February 3, 2013

Dubai: An employee has been accused of taking drugs after being found in a hotel room with his girlfriend who died of a Tramadol overdose.

The 22-year-old employee, S.M., was said to have been found taking drugs after he called for an ambulance to save his Iraqi girlfriend, who was breathing heavily after taking a Tramadol overdose.

Records said the Emirati suspect noticed that his girlfriend was breathing heavily when he woke up beside her in the room and he immediately called an ambulance.

Paramedics arrived at the hotel on Jumeirah Beach Road but she died 40 minutes later after attempts to resuscitate her failed.

Police forwarded the defendant for further interrogation after they seized various pills and mind-altering drugs from the room.

Prosecutors accused S.M. of consuming hashish, Tramadol, Prazolam and other kinds of banned substances.

When he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance, he pleaded not guilty and denied taking drugs.

His lawyer asked Presiding Judge Maher Salama Al Mahdi to adjourn the case to prepare his defence.

The Dubai Misdemeanour Court recently jailed the defendant for three months for having consensual sex with his girlfriend. He was also jailed for one month for consuming liquor.

An Emirati police lieutenant testified that the suspect admitted to him that he had been having an affair with her for nearly two years.

“He claimed that he had nothing to do with her death. S.M. claimed that on that particular night they did not have sex. He went to sleep at around 1.30am and when he woke up the next morning, his girlfriend was asleep. He alleged that when he woke her up, he discovered that she was breathing heavily… he called for an ambulance. The woman was pronounced dead shortly after the paramedics arrived. Police seized in the room too many pills that S.M. claimed belonged to the victim,” said the lieutenant.

Dubai Police’s forensic examiner said the woman died of a Tramadol overdose.

Court records said the defendant was questioned over the woman’s death and the consumption of alcohol.

When questioned by prosecutors, the suspect claimed that he met the woman on Jumeirah Beach Road and they exchanged numbers.

“We dated for two years, during which we had consensual sex in different hotel across Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman. I had nothing to do with her death. That evening, she went to have a shower when I heard that she fell down… she hurt her knee and I helped her go out of the washroom. We went to nightclubs and spent times together. I picked her up from Sharjah when she had a fight with her mother and took her to the hotel,” said the defendant.

The drug trial continues.