Dubai: Prosecutors have lost their appeals against two men who were cleared of sneaking into a villa and stealing Dh173,000 worth of valuables, while its tenants were away on summer holiday.
According to court records, a South Korean manager and her family were away in the summer of 2015 and on their return, found that their Dubai villa had been robbed.
On entering their villa in Port Saeed area, the manager realised that her jewellery that she had hidden in a wooden box had disappeared. She had kept the family’s valuables in a box on the cabinet and covered it with a cloth.
In May, the Dubai Court of First Instance acquitted the Chinese men, aged 24 and 27, of trespassing into the South Korean’s villa and stealing the Dh173,000-worth valuables.
Prosecutors appealed the primary judgement and asked the Dubai Appeal Court to overturn the acquittal and punish the Chinese duo.
When the two men appeared in court, they renewed their not guilty plea and refuted the accusations.
Citing lack of corroborated evidence, presiding judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm upheld the acquittal of the Chinese duo.
Records said police arrested the unemployed men, who were detained for committing a similar theft.
A police major testified to prosecutors that a police patrol was dispatched to the robbed villa. “We reached the place and discovered that a thief or more had entered, from the side of the pool. The burglars had broken the door and climbed up to the first floor, from where they stole the valuables kept in the master bedroom. We identified the suspects who had been detained for carrying out a similar robbery with the same modus operandi,” he said.
The Chinese duo told the appeal court that they were not connected to the theft and were not present at the crime scene.
Wednesday’s ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 30 days.
