Dubai: A salesman was fined Dh2,000 for damaging the hood of a car after he fell from the first floor of a building while chasing a parrot.
The 29-year-old Briton was trying to catch the bird inside the offices of the company where he worked in Al Quoz but took flight himself when a glass window he was leaning on smashed and he lost his balance.
Prosecutors charged the salesman with accidentally causing damage to the hood of an Indian engineer’s car. The defendant entered a guilty plea when he appeared before the Dubai Misdemeanor Court.
Records said the pieces of smashed glass caused several cuts to the defendant’s hands and face and his wrist was fractured.
The engineer testified that he parked his car in a sandy area under the building and went to his office.
“By 11.30am one of the security men rushed into the offices and told me that a man fell off from the first floor and landed on a car,” he told prosecutors. “I discovered that the defendant fell on my vehicle once I went out to check out what happened. The hood was completely damaged. Police had arrived at the scene and an ambulance car rushed the injured defendant to hospital.”
The engineer demanded that his rented car be repaired and claimed that he did not how the incident happened.
Meanwhile, the Briton claimed that he spotted the parrot and chased it inside the office. “I tried to catch it and leaned on the glass that seemed to be frail,” he said. “Suddenly, the glass smashed into very tiny pieces and I lost my balance and plunged out of the window. I landed on a car and sustained several injuries. I was not at fault.”
Dubai police’s forensic doctor confirmed that the defendant sustained 5 per cent permanent disability in his wrist.
A consultative engineering report confirmed that the defendant should not have leaned on the glass and the company the Briton worked for should have applied better safety standards.
Monday’s judgement remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
