UAE | Crime
Expat accused of walking out of shop in unpaid shoes
A resident who has been living here for 38 years is standing trial for walking out of a shop after wearing a shoe worth Dh26 without paying for it.
- By Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:07 July 4, 2008
Dubai: A resident who has been living here for 38 years is standing trial for walking out of a shop after wearing a shoe worth Dh26 without paying for it.
Records said security guards stopped the middle-aged Syrian suspect from walking out wearing the shoe without having paid for it after the alarm system broke out.
"There is no way on earth I could have attempted to steal that shoe, which costs only Dh26. I am innocent and this is something insane. I am an honest resident who have been living and working in this country for the past 38 years," the suspect, N.R., told Dubai Court of Misdemeanour yesterday.
The Public Prosecution charged him with attempting to steal a shoe from a shop at a shopping mall.
When he appeared before the judge, the suspect dismissed what he described as baseless and malicious accusations.
He asked why would he hamper his future and ruin his daughter's life as well.
"My daughter is a university student. Why would I do such a thing and have her thrown out of college?" murmured the suspect before the judge.
He also told the court that the owners of the reportedly victimised shoe shop sent the Egyptian guard, who stopped him, back home.
"He agreed to testify that I returned the shoe which I was only trying on," argued the suspect.
A verdict on the case will be passed soon.
I am innocent and this is something insane. ... My daughter is a university student. Why would I ... have her thrown out?"
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