Two get life in prison for mowing down businessman in UAE

Dubai: Two men have been jailed for life after a court convicted them of premeditatedly mowing down a businessman and stealing Dh300,000 from him — minutes after he had withdrawn the cash from a bank.

The Dubai Court of First Instance found the duo, 28-year-old M.A. (who doesn't carry identification documents) and his 29-year-old Iranian accomplice, A.A., guilty of the premeditated murder of the Indian businessman, S.M.

Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir, who pronounced yesterday's verdict, said the men will be deported after the completion of their life sentence, which is 25 years in jail under UAE law.

Plotted

Prosecutors said the 28 year old and the 29 year old plotted to pursue any client who walked out of a bank with a huge amount of cash so that they could rob him.

According to the arraignment sheet, the Public Prosecution charged M.A. and A.A. with intentionally killing the businessman, S.M., after running him down and stealing his car and money.

M.A. rammed S.M.'s car. The victim pulled over and got out of his vehicle to see what had happened. M.A. then ran him down while A.A. jumped into the car where the money was kept, and they both sped off from the scene.

The men were charged with stealing a Syrian engineer's sports utility vehicle (SUV), which records said they used to carry out the heist. They were charged with destroying the SUV and the businessman's car.

When the men appeared in court earlier, they denied the premeditated murder charge.

Lawyers, who defended the suspects, argued in court that their clients did not intend to kill the deceased. The lawyers pleaded with the court to grant clemency to their clients.

An Emirati police captain testified that according to the bank's surveillance cameras A.A. was shown circling around the victim while he was withdrawing money from the cashier.

"We suspected him and started investigations. Two days later we discovered that he had travelled to Iran and we issued an arrest warrant upon which the Iranian was arrested at Dubai International Airport. During questioning, he admitted that they had plotted the whole incident," said the captain.

Sting operation

Records said the 29 year old assisted the police arrest his associate in a sting operation in Sharjah. An Emirati first lieutenant testified that the incident happened in front of a bank in Ras Al Khor.

"The convicts stole another car's plate number which they fixed on the SUV before they carried out the plot… they deserted the victim's car in a sandy spot in Sharjah," added the first lieutenant.

The primary verdict is still subject to appeal within 15 days.