Two men jailed for police station breakout

Dubai Two would-be fugitives have been given three years in jail each after a court convicted them of breaking out of Al Muraqqabat Police Station.

At the Dubai Court of First Instance Tuesday, Presiding Judge Mohammad Jamal Kamal, handed 46-year-old Iranian, E.A. and 29-year-old Iraqi, J.Q, the sentences in absentia after they refused to attend the trial.

They were found guilty of damaging a steal-netted door worth Dh2,000, climbing down a makeshift rope from the roof of the police station and fleeing. They were charged with breaking out of the station and wrecking police property.

"They will have to pay Dh2,000 for the maintenance of the wreckage they caused. They will also be deported following the completion of their punishments," said Presiding Judge Kamal.

A Yemeni policeman was acquitted of negligence resulting in the escape.

The two defendants denied escaping.

According to the charge sheet, E.A. and J.Q. were detained at Al Muraqabat Police Station for their alleged involvement in a number of theft cases. One of the men broke his bed and used a piece of iron to damage a door to the rooftop so they could escape. They tied a number of bed sheets together as a makeshift rope and climbed down from the rooftop to the Station's backyard. Then they jumped over the wall and ran away.

A policeman said E.A, J.Q. and two others had escaped. "A special police team found two of the escapees who hid in a deserted villa in Al Hamriya. We raided the villa and detained E.A. and J.Q," he said.

Tuesday's judgement remains subject to appeal within 15 days.