Dubai: A jobless man has lost his appeal and will be jailed for one year for sneaking into an empty villa and stealing valuables and cash worth Dh500,000 along with two conspirators.

The Emirati tenant of the villa was out of town for his son’s treatment in Germany when the Sri Lankan man, P.S., and his countrymen conspirators, B.D. and N.J., forced their way into the villa, used hard tools to break in and burgled the place last year.

In May, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed P.S. for one year for trespassing and robbing the villa in Al Mizhar.

The conspirators, B.D. and N.J., who remain at large, were sentenced in absentia to one year in jail.

P.S. appealed the primary ruling and sought to prove his acquittal before the Appeal Court.

When he showed up in court, he refuted the accusation of having stolen the cash and valuables from the Emirati’s villa. He contended that the runaway defendants were the ones who had trespassed into the villa and committed the burglary.

Presiding judge Eisa Al Sharif rejected the appeal of P. S. and upheld his one-year imprisonment.

The defendant will be deported following the completion of his punishment.

Records said the trio used a screwdriver and crowbar to break the windows and sneak into the empty villa. Then they stole four diamond watches, a diamond necklace, a gold set, gold rings, sunglasses, branded pens, men’s watches, a number of gold and diamond sets and Dh15,000 in cash.

The Emirati man testified that he was in Germany where his son was being treated when the incident happened.

“My maid had been staying at my family’s residence and she had been visiting the villa to clean. One day when she went to clean as usual she discovered that the villa had been burgled. One thief or more had trespassed into my residence and stolen the valuables from my bedroom. My brother phoned me in Germany and told me what had happened. The defendants entered the villa through a window that was found to be broken. Then they went up to my master bedroom and broke the door … they broke the safe open and stole the contents,” he said.

A policeman said primary interrogations revealed the trio’s involvement in the heist.

“Shortly after the heist, P.S. was apprehended at Sharjah airport while trying to leave the country. During questioning, he admitted that B.D., N.J. and he broke into the villa and stole the valuables. He said B.D. and N.J. had left the country and taken part of the stolen items with them,” said the policeman.

The absconders are entitled to a retrial.

The appellate ruling against P.S. remains subject to appeal within 25 days.