Man sentenced to jail in Sharjah for two months for setting car on fire to claim insurance

Sharjah: A 22-year-old Palestinian man has been jailed here for two months, to be followed by deportation, for setting his father’s car on fire, intentionally, to claim insurance.

The man had pleaded guilty, court records revealed

The Sharjah Court of First Instance convicted the 22-year-old defendant of setting the vehicle on fire deliberately.

The man told the court that he was fond of cars and took his father’s car, Type FJ, and drove it on the dune in Maleiha Desert. While he was driving, the vehicle caught fire accidentally, he claimed. The man then went to Maleiha Police Station and informed the police about the incident and asked them for help.

However, initial investigations revealed that the man was guilty and had intentionally set the car on fire in an attempt to claim insurance money. Police later arrested him and was referred to public prosecution.

The accused’s lawyer, Abdullah Sulyman, has appealed the judgement. Sulyman said if the man had set the car on fire intentionally, then he would not have approached the police and informed them about the incident. He said it seemed that there was thermal conductivity close to the gasoline in the vehicle that had caused the fire.

For the next hearing, a police officer and crime-scene investigators from Maleiha Police Station will be summoned by the court to testify in the case — whether it was intentional or accidental.