Dubai: An unemployed man who called the Dubai police operations room 17 times while under the influence of drugs has been jailed for one month.
The Dubai Misdemeanour Court convicted the 38-year-old man, A.D., who doesn't have identification documents, of harassing Dubai police over the phone when he repeatedly dialled 999 when there was no emergency.
"Yes sir I dialled 999 repeatedly," the defendant said before Presiding Judge Jamal Jubaily.
When the judge asked him why he dialled the number for no reason, the accused said: "Sir I am sorry I was under the influence of liquor."
Meanwhile in his statement to prosecutors, A.D. confessed that he called 999 when "he was under the influence of drugs and did not realise what he was doing".
Court records said police raided A.D.'s house around 3am in Umm Al Quwain and arrested him.
Yesterday's judgment remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
This is the second case of its kind since November when an elderly Emirati man was fined Dh3,000 for dialling the emergency number 971 times, cursing and playing music for whoever answered. The fine was Dh2,000 for harassing police over the phone and Dh1,000 for using foul language.
