Dubai A worker lost his appeal on Wednesday and will spend six months in jail for threatening to kill a family by blowing them up with a gas cylinder.

The 26-year-old Chinese worker, B.O., broke the metal cage where a Pakistani restaurant owner had placed the gas cylinder. Then he carried the cylinder to the flat of a Chinese family and placed it on their doorstep before threatening to burn them if they asked him to repay the money he had borrowed.

The Dubai Appeal Court rejected B.O.’s appeal and upheld his six-month imprisonment despite his having entered a not guilty plea. He claimed he did not have any criminal intention when he defended himself before the appellate court.

Presiding judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm said the accused will be deported following the completion of his punishment.

Records said B.O. had borrowed money from the son of a Chinese woman before he threatened to kill her and her family by setting them on fire in January.

The accused stole the gas cylinder and verbally threatened to kill the Chinese family who lives in Dubai International City, according to records.

A Chinese saleswoman said the incident took place around 1.30am when the defendant knocked on their door.

“When my nephew answered the door, we saw a gas cylinder on the doorstep. A few minutes later the defendant came and shouted, ‘I put the cylinder there… I will burn you all with that cylinder if you ever ask me to pay back the money that I borrowed from your son’. I informed the police instantly. Police arrested him at the building’s entrance,” she claimed.

The Pakistani restaurant owner said one of his workers informed him over the phone that the cylinder had been stolen.

“The worker called me around 3am … when I reached the restaurant I saw the defendant in police custody. Police officers told me B.O. had broken the cage and stolen the cylinder that he used to threaten the family,” he added.

The saleswoman’s sister testified that her sister notified her over the phone that B.O. had come to their flat and threatened to burn them all using the cylinder.

Wednesday’s ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 30 days.