Man gets year in jail for police threat

Dubai: A jobless man was jailed for a year for threatening to blow up a gas cylinder as two policemen approached him to investigate whether he had tried to rape a Filipino.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the 47-year-old Emirati man, T.A., of threatening the two police officers and warning them against coming close to his doorstep, saying he would blow up the gas cylinder.

Records said the defendant had already allowed some gas to leak out some gas and threatened to use his lighter in case the policemen came close.

Prosecutors said T.A. stood in front of his residence with the gas cylinder in one hand and the lighter in the other.

He turned the tap on and let some gas out. Then he threatened to blow it up when the Emirati policemen tried to restrain him.

Records said the incident happened shortly after a Filipino man called the police claiming that T.A. had forced him into his villa wanting to rape him.

One of the policemen testified that when they arrived at the defendant’s house, he threatened to blow up the gas cylinder.

“He repeatedly threatened us… it was obvious that he was under the influence of some sort of drug. The Filipino man claimed that he managed to escape from the defendant’s place when the latter tried to rape him. The policemen finally managed to calm down T.A. and restrained him. We put a distance between him and the gas cylinder… and he showed us medical reports confirming that he has Aids and hepatitis. We called the anti-narcotics police and the defendant went inside… then we took the Filipino to the police station to give his statement,” claimed the policeman.

Prosecution records said police found out that the defendant had fallen unconscious in a restaurant later that afternoon. He was taken to hospital where he was kept under police custody.