Dubai: A chef has been accused of stabbing an employee manning the juice counter at a restaurant with a knife following a heated argument and inflicting severe damage to nerves and tendons in the latter’s left arm.

The chef was said to have indulged in a heated argument with the juice counter employee, who works in the same restaurant as him after the latter refused to serve him juice, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

The chef lost his temper with the employee at the juice counter when he refused to budge from instructions given by the establishment manager not to serve drinks to colleagues until after orders from clients had been cleared and stabbed him with a meat knife, said Chief Prosecutor Dr Hussain Ali Al Naour on Tuesday.

Primary police interrogations revealed that the chef stabbed his co-worker in his left arm and caused severe damage to tendons and nerves in the arm before the victim was rushed to hospital.

“The stabber has been charged with assaulting the juice maker with a knife and causing him a permanent disability. He will be prosecuted before the Dubai Court of First Instance. On the other hand, the two men [juice counter staffer and chef] were also charged with cursing each other and will be tried as well,” said Dr Al Naour.

When questioned by prosecutors, the juice counter staffer testified that the chef got angry when he refused to treat him like normal customers and serve him juice.

“My manager had instructed me to serve co-workers after they attend to clients’ orders. When I refused to give him a juice, he got angry and we indulged in a heated argument … the argument developed into a fight and he grabbed a knife and stabbed me in my left arm. When he cursed me, I cursed him back. He grabbed the meat knife from the freezer and attacked me,” the juice counter employee was quoted as telling prosecutors.

Dr Al Naour said Dubai Police’s forensic examiner confirmed that the knife wound caused a permanent disability to the juice counter employee, who lost tactile sensation in his fingers as a result of damage to the tendons and nerves.

“The duo have been referred to the primary court where they will be prosecuted for exchanging curses and the chef will be tried for assault which led to a permanent disability. The latter remains in custody,” said Dr Al Naour, of Bur Dubai Prosecution.

The case will be posted for further hearing soon.