Dog trainer and cook charged with stealing rice

Dubai A dog trainer and a cook have been charged with stealing 25 jute bags containing rice, worth Dh300 each, from their sponsor's warehouse.

"I didn't steal any rice ... I am not guilty," said the 39-year-old cook when he defended himself before the Dubai Court of First Instance.

When Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout faced the 48-year-old dog trainer with his charge, the latter pleaded guilty, saying: "I did steal the rice bags. I am guilty."

The Public Prosecution charged the Indian defendants, S.A. and Z.R., with stealing 25 jute bags containing rice worth a total of Dh7,500 from their sponsor.

A 38-year-old Emirati merchant told prosecutors that the suspects, who work for his father, stole the rice from the warehouse in Abu Hail.

"My father moved out to a new house in Khawaneej and the suspects remained living and working in Abu Hail. My father had left 25 jute bags containing rice in the warehouse. One day I checked on the jute bags and discovered that they were missing.

"One of my dad's workers claimed that the dog trainer stole the rice. When I confronted him, Z.R. confessed that he robbed four bags and he handed them to his friends for free.

"Z.R. alleged that S.A. took the rest of the rice bags. S.A. denied the allegations when I confronted him. The cook was the only one allowed to go in to the warehouse," the merchant claimed.

The trial continues.