Three get jail term for stealing electricity in Dubai

Dubai: Three suspects have been jailed after a court convicted them of illegally diverting power from a Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) cable to their villa in Al Wuhaida.

The Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced each of the Bangladeshi suspects, a 27-year-old electrician, a 35-year-old worker and a 43-year-old tailor, to three months in jail.

The court also acquitted a 54-year-old Bangladeshi driver of the same charge for lack of evidence.

Prosecutors accused the four men with unlawfully connecting the power from the Dewa cable to their villa which housed a number of bachelors.

"The defendants dug a hole and reached the cable which they uncovered with a special cutter so they could reconnect the electric power to their villa. Dubai Municipality had ordered Dewa to disconnect the power. What they did was very dangerous and unlawful," said a Bangladeshi engineer, who works for Dewa.

An Emirati police sergeant, who questioned the defendants, testified: "The electrician confessed to me that he and the worker and the tailor tried to connect the power…Meanwhile the driver was looking for them in the surrounding [area]."

The primary judgment is still subject to appeal within 14 days.