Dubai: A jobless man, who bit a policeman, assaulted and struck two others with a stick when they tried to apprehend him for bootlegging, was jailed for a year.
The three policemen were patrolling Naif area when they spotted the 26-year-old Nigerian suspect selling alcohol in a street in March.
When the policemen approached the suspect, and tried to arrest him he turned violent.
The suspect assaulted the three policemen with a traditional Nigerian stick and bit one of them at his thigh.
However, the policemen managed to restrain the defendant and took him into custody.
The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the defendant of physically assaulting the three policemen while carrying out their duties and injuring them.
When the suspect showed up before the court, he pleaded not guilty and contended that he was not aware that the three men are policemen. He also claimed that he acted in self-defence.
According to the primary judgement, the accused will be deported after serving his jail term.
One of the policemen told prosecutors that they saw the accused selling alcohol in a street in Naif area.
“When we went to apprehend him and asked him about the liquor bottles, he said that he was selling them. Once we tried to take him into custody, he turned physically violent and assaulted us. He beat us with a traditional Nigerian stick and he also bit me at my thigh …,” a policeman told prosecutors.
Another policeman said the Nigerian assaulted them and refused to surrender.
The third policeman told prosecutors that they did not assault the defendant but he fell down and injured himself when he resisted the arrest.
The ruling remains subject to appeal.
