Dubai: A student, who broke into a pharmacy and stole Dh4,400 in cash and medicines, has been jailed for six months.
The 18-year-old Emirati student and his jobless compatriot man broke the locks of the pharmacy at Oudh Al Muteena and stole medicines and cash in January last year.
In August last year, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the duo of carrying out the break-in and theft.
The jobless man was sentenced to six months in jail, while the student was sentenced in absentia to one year in jail.
The 18-year-old turned himself in and requested a retrial, during which he pleaded not guilty contending that he was not involved in the burglary.
The two defendants and a third juvenile suspect used a screwdriver to force open the pharmacy’s door before they stole boxes of different medicines and cash.
“We did not steal from that pharmacy,” the student argued before the presiding judge.
The pharmacy’s Indian supervisor testified that his assistant told him over the phone about the robbery.
“I rushed to the pharmacy and discovered that the defendants had broken the glass door and the register; they stole medicines and cash. The CCTV footage showed three masked suspects stealing cash and medicines,” he said.
A police lieutenant said primary investigation led to the arrest of the three defendants.
“The jobless man claimed during questioning that they went to the pharmacy at 3am and broke the door with a screwdriver, then all three walked in and stole cash and medicines. He said that they split the cash and the pills among them,” testified the lieutenant.
The juvenile suspect is being tried before the Juveniles Court.
The convicted student appealed his six-month imprisonment and is scheduled to appear before the Court of Appeals soon.
