Dubai: A safety officer told a court that he sprayed himself with Dolce & Gabbana perfume that he found at Dubai International Airport so he could smell “nice” at work. Prosecutors accused the 34-year-old Nepalese safety officer, R.K., who worked at the airport’s lost and found section, of stealing the perfume in March.
“I took the bottle by mistake. I found it at the section where I worked and used it to smell nice. I liked the perfume and I mistakenly placed the bottle in a bag and was caught by security while leaving my workplace,” said R.K. when he entered a not guilty plea before the Dubai Court of First Instance.
“What do you mean that you took it by mistake?” presiding judge Maher Salama Al Mahdi asked him.
“Sir, I did intend to steal it. I tried the perfume for a while and liked it. I decided to use it but I did not want to steal it. What happened was a mistake,” replied the suspect.
Thereafter presiding judge Al Mahdi changed the charge to attempted theft.
A policeman testified to prosecutors the perfume was seized in R.K.’s possession when he was searched while walking out of work on March 22.
“The bottle was found in his bag. Upon confronting him, the suspect alleged in the beginning that he used the perfume at work to smell nice. When I asked him to show me the receipt to prove that he had purchased the bottle, he claimed he had got the perfume from home. Then when I asked him how he managed to bring the perfume into the airport, he claimed his friend had handed it to him at the transit section. The suspect claimed his friend had flown to Qatar. When I asked him to provide me with his friend’s name R.K. confessed that he had taken it from the lost and found section where he worked,” said the policeman.
A ruling will be heard on May 14.
