UAE | Crime
Two maids get prison term for stealing jewellery
Two housemaids face six months in jail for stealing jewellery worth more than Dh31,000 from a lawyer's villa.
- By Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:16 June 29, 2009
Dubai: Two housemaids face six months in jail for stealing jewellery worth more than Dh31,000 from a lawyer's villa.
The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the Sri Lankan housemaids, 28-year-old S.M. and 37-year-old N.W., after they pleaded guilty to theft.
The court fined a 34-year-old Iranian jeweller, who bought the stolen items from the accused, Dh2,000 for possessing the goods.
The housemaids will be deported after serving their jail terms. Records quoted the 28-year-old Egyptian lawyer A.O. as claiming that the defendants stole the jewellery from his house while his wife was cooking.
S.M. pleaded guilty to stealing the jewellery and some cash. N.W. confessed that she aided and abetted her compatriot by keeping an eye out for the lawyer's wife while S.M. grabbed the goods.
The public prosecution charged S.M. with stealing the items and N.W. with aiding and abetting a crime. The Iranian jeweller defended himself before the court, saying: "I didn't know that the items which I bought were stolen. I am innocent."
A.O. testified that he hired the housemaids on an hourly basis to clean his house in Jebel Ali.
"My wife was in the kitchen when S.M. stole the jewellery from the bedroom ...her compatriot watched the place while the 28-year-old conducted the heist. They stole five gold and two diamond bracelets worth Dh25,000," he said.
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