Dubai
Dubai: Four men have gone on trial accused of disfiguring another man who tried to break up a fight in a Dubai hotel, a court heard on Monday.
The 22-year-old Emirati victim was with his friends at a five-star hotel in Al Garhoud in July when he saw the defendants having an argument with a fifth man. The victim and his friend tried to calm the situation down before returning to his table in the cafe with his friends.
“I was leaving the hotel with my friends when I saw the same group of men who insulted us,” the victim said in records.
The defendants - two Emiratis and two Saudis - accused the victim of harassing a girl who was sitting with them.
The victim’s friend, an Emirati policeman, testified that one of the defendants assaulted him before the hotel’s security guards interfered and forced the men to leave.
“I was heading to my car when they attacked me thinking that I was a friend of the fifth man. They hit me with a paving slab and fled,” the victim added.
The victim’s friend, who is a policeman, saw the attack and took him to Rashid hospital.
A medical report said the front of the man’s skull was fractured leaving him with heavy internal and external bleeding. The injuries required metal plates to be implanting.
The report confirmed that the victim suffered 15 per cent permanent disability with frequent headaches.
“The attackers admitted the attack claiming the victim harassed a female friend who was with them. That was the spark of the attack,” said a policeman.
Prosecution charged the four defendants aged between 21 to 26, with physical assault that caused a permanent disability and insults.
One of them was additionally charged with physically assaulting the victim’s policeman friend.
The defendants denied the charges in court and the trial has been adjourned until October 31.
