Dubai Two unemployed men have been jailed for three months each for stealing valuables from a flat before deliberately setting it on fire to remove their fingerprints from the crime scene.
The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the two men, 18-year-old Egyptian A.A. and 20-year-old Yemeni M.S., of deliberate arson and looting valuables worth thousands of dirhams.
Deported
"The two accused will be deported following the completion of their jail term," said Presiding Judge Maher Salama Al Mahdi upon pronouncing yesterday's judgment.
"Your honour I participated in the theft but I didn't set the flat on fire. The other suspects did so," argued A.A. when he defended himself before the court.
M.S. contended before Presiding Judge Al Mahdi: "I am not guilty. I didn't do that crime."
Prosecutors said the defendants set the flat on fire after robbing a laptop, digital camera, video camera, four women wristwatches, six gold bracelets, six gold earrings and five gold rings in addition to other personal documents.
Juvenile
A third juvenile suspect, identified as M., was referred to the Dubai Juvenile Court for involving in the heist.
Prosecution records said the flat belonged to an Egyptian man, A.F.
The claimant said his brother called him while he was abroad and informed him that his flat was gutted by fire.
Stealing
"My brother told me that some looter broke in to my flat and set it on fire after stealing my belongings," A.F. claimed.
A Omani policeman said the fire happened in the flat in Al Muhaisna.
"Primary interrogation led to A.A.'s arrest. He claimed that he and M.S. broke in to the flat and stole the valuables… they returned the next day and set the flat on fire to remove any evidence that could have been left behind and used against them in court. A.A. claimed that he wrote romantic phrases on the wall. M. set the bedroom on fire and M.S. burned the sitting room," claimed the policeman.
Wednesday's verdict remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
