Dubai: A crane operator has been accused of stealing Dh53,000 worth of copper pipes from a container at a company’s warehouse in Jebel Ali.
The 20-year-old Sri Lankan operator, A.B., was said to have stolen the copper pipes in a suspected act of revenge after his employer cancelled his work permit and was about to deport him in August.
Prosecutors charged A.B. with stealing from his workplace.
“Yes, I stole the copper pipes,” said A.B. as he entered a guilty plea before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Sunday.
Court records said the company’s Syrian public relations officer reported the matter to the police.
In his prosecution statement, the Syrian claimant said: “The company’s manager authorised me to lodge a police complaint shortly after the robbery was discovered. The manager told me that a load of copper pipes were found to be missing from one of the containers at the company’s premises in Jebel Ali. One of the company’s workers who discovered the theft also found a special scale in the container. Some of the company’s workers went to a nearby grocery store, the trade name of which was found on a sticker on the scale. The workers asked the seller, who immediately claimed that A.B. had purchased the scale. The company’s management then summoned the defendant, who confessed that he had stolen the copper pipes following the cancellation of his work permit. He claimed that he stole the pipes because he was about to be sent back to his country.”
The suspect was cited admitting to prosecutors that he stole the copper pipes.
Presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi is expected to hand out a judgement on October 28.
