Court jails visitor who assaulted victims with axe

Dubai: A visitor has been jailed after he admitted that he was armed with an axe when he raided a house and stole a mobile phone and Dh13,185.

The Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday sentenced the 27-year-old Nigerian accused to three years in jail followed by deportation.

The defendant, J.N., pleaded guilty to armed robbery when he appeared before Presiding Judge Abdul Majid Al Nezamy, who referred him to the Dubai Court of Misdemeanours, where he will also be prosecuted for having consensual sex with an unknown girl and assaulting an Emirati student.

The accused was also charged with attacking and injuring the 23-year-old Emirati with the axe. He was charged with having sex with the unidentified girl, who ran away.

The African victim, E.O., testified before the Public Prosecution: "Five of us ... were seated in my house and the suspect, who held an axe, and his associate, who carried a knife, stormed into the house and robbed us."

The student testified: "He hit me on the head with the axe and caused me a 7cm wound& I fell unconscious and later my friend informed me that neighbours and bystanders stopped the accused before handing him over to police."