Woman pleads not guilty to stealing mobile phone in Dubai

Dubai: A female wedding supervisor has pleaded not guilty to stealing from a ballroom the mobile phone of a saleswoman who was styling her hair at the table, heard a court on Thursday.

Records said the 22-year-old German saleswoman accused the 33-year-old Tanzanian supervisor of stealing her mobile phone after she realised that she had forgotten it on a table at the ballroom.

The Public Prosecution charged 33-year-old M.S. with stealing the saleswoman's cellphone.

'Helped her'

"I didn't steal the phone, I am innocent. When she walked towards me and asked about her phone, I helped her look for it," argued the suspect before the Dubai Court of First Instance.

Her lawyer told Presiding Judge Fahmi Mounir: "This is a mind-boggling case. My client is not guilty."

"She helped the claimant search for her mobile. Why would she risk losing her job and get deported for the sake of a mobile phone?"

Fixing hair

The claimant, identified as M.F., testified: "I left my cell-phone on a table and got busy fixing my hair. Then I left the place and forgot my mobile on the table.

"No one answered my mobile phone when I tried to call it, until somebody later switched it off. Then I informed the suspect who promised to call me in case she found the phone."

Public Prosecution records said the defendant confessed that she stole the phone.

A verdict will be given next month.