Visitor faces trial for murder, robbery

Dubai: A visitor faces trial for intentional murder after hitting a man in the latter's apartment with a sharp tool.

The suspect is also being charged with robbery.

The Dubai Police Prosecution had charged A.M., a 52-year-old Egyptian who is on a visit in the country, with the intentional murder of compatriot H.M., as well as robbery.

The suspect had allegedly hit the man with a sharp tool several times in the head in the victim's flat in a residential building in Al Baraha. The injuries caused the victim's death, according to the Public Prosecution.

"A team from the Criminal investigation Department [CID], including me, went to the one-bedroom flat, following a report on a murder case occurring there where we found the body of the victim on the floor amid his belongings which were scattered all over the place," said Lieutenant H.S.H., one of the witnesses.

The suspect is accused of stealing the victim's credit card, car and mobile phone.

Public prosecution's investigations showed that the suspect had used the credit card to buy gold bracelets worth Dh7,000, cinema tickets as well as a mobile phone from Carrefour in City Centre.

Eighteen gold bracelets and a mobile phone were found in the suspect's apartment following a search, according to the public prosecution. H.M, who is in police custody, was arrested in Al Baraha area on March 13, following a police report on a murder which took place in the same area.

The brother of the victim, who came to the country after failing to reach his brother over the phone, claimed that the motive of the murder was to steal more than Dh11,000 from his brother, according to the public prosecution report.

The suspect, who appeared yesterday before the Dubai court of First Instance, pleaded not guilty and asked for the case to be deferred in order to appoint a lawyer.

"I did not intentionally kill him, but in a middle of an argument he just slapped me on the face and I hit him back in self defence with a metal object I found in his apartment. I tried to escape several times but he continued to fight and I did not steal his mobile and I had the car keys because I was trying to open the door to escape," the suspect told the court.