Student used fake card to get into club

Dubai: A college student was given a three-month suspended jail term for using a fake health card to go clubbing.

The Dubai Court of First Instance tried the 19-year-old Iranian student who was indicted for using a fake health card.

Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout said the punishment will be suspended for a period of three years during which the convicted student must not repeat the crime.

The sentence is still subject to appeal within 15 days.

The 19-year-old student had denied using the fake health card to enter a pub where only those above 21 years old are allowed entry.

Prosecutors charged A.S., an Iranian, of forging a health card which bore the Health Ministry's name and logo.

The fake card listed his age as above 21 years old.

Identity

A police corporal told prosecutors: "The guards of the Jumeirah pub informed us that a group of youngsters were trying to enter the pub using fake identities. We went to the pub and asked A.S. for his identification papers. He handed over a health card.

"I suspected the card to be fake so I asked him if it was authentic. The defendant admitted that he paid someone in Naif to have the card processed for him.

"He claimed that he needed the card to go clubbing."

According to the charge sheet, A.S. did not mention how much he paid for the card.

The police corporal said A.S. had used the fake health card to enter a number of places.