Dubai: A jobless man has been accused of intentionally stabbing his friend to death after they fought because the latter purchased his motorbike but failed to finish paying for it.

The 18-year-old Emirati man, M.Y., was said to have had a fist-fight with his countryman outside a coffee shop in Dubai before friends interfered and stopped the scuffle in April 2014.

It is believed that the suspect threatened to head to the victim’s house and take back his motorbike because the deceased had failed to pay the second instalment before they quarrelled and M.Y. killed the victim.

Prosecutors accused the 18-year-old of premeditated murder.

The suspect entered a not guilty plea and firmly refuted the accusation of premeditatedly murdering his countryman when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Sunday.

“No, I did not stab him … I did not kill him,” argued M.Y. when he defended himself before presiding judge Urfan Omar.

According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said M.Y. had a premeditated intention of killing the victim as he hid the knife under his clothes before he repeatedly stabbed the deceased in Al Muraqqabat.

Prosecution records said the defendant had sold his motorbike to the victim, who paid M.Y. Dh4,000 as a first instalment and they agreed on a second instalment.

A police lieutenant testified to prosecutors that friends and relatives rushed the stabbed victim [before his death] to hospital immediately after the attack.

“Prior investigations with the persons, who rushed the victim to hospital, revealed that the victim, his cousin and a friend were at a shisha cafe on Shaikh Zayed Road before the incident took place. Witnesses said the defendant’s friend called up the victim to ask him about his plans to pay the second instalment for the motorbike. Shortly after that the suspect and his friend arrived at the cafe and when they [M.Y. and victim] tried to discuss the matter in a parking lot, they fought but their friends stopped them. Witnesses further claimed that the fight resumed in front of a friend’s house where there were attempts to resolve the matter amicably. The defendant stabbed the victim when they were fighting, according to witnesses,” the lieutenant claimed.

Meanwhile M.Y. was cited admitting to prosecutors that the victim had repeatedly tried to avoid him in order not to pay him.

“We fought before the cafe … we met again before a friend’s house to resolve the matter. The victim took out a knife from under his clothes and tried to stab me. We had a fight and I defended myself. When I hit the victim, the knife fell from his hand and I knelt down to pick up the knife, but the victim continued beating me … then I found myself grabbing the knife and stabbing the victim. When he shouted and collapsed on the floor, I threw the knife beneath him and ran to a nearby park. I waited there for 15 minutes thinking of what had happened and what should be done. I regretted what I had done before I went along with my brother and surrendered myself to the police,” the suspect was quoted as telling prosecutors.

The trial continues.