Man sentenced to death for killing security guard

A Pakistani man was sentenced to death Tuesday morning for killing a security guard during the botched robbery of a car showroom.

The sentenced was pronounced by Judge Saaed Salem Bin Sarm, Chief Judge of Dubai's Second Criminal Courts, said officials.

Judge Bin Sarm was acting upon a recommendation by Dubai Public Prosecution that Pakistani Abdul Saboor K., 24, receive the death sentence for the killing in March 3 last year.

It's believed to be Judge Bin Sarm's first handing down of a death sentence.

In an interview with XPRESS in November last year, Judge Bin Sarm said he did “not oppose capital punishment, as it is stated in our law. It is at times necessary to implement capital punishment so that it can serve as a deterrent.''

Following Tuesday's ruling, Public Prosecution is expected to immediately begin work needed to file an appeal, an automatic mechanism built into the Dubai legal system – the application will be filed with the Dubai Appeals Court.

It's not known when the appellate court will hear the case.

The condemned man was employed at the Mazda showroom at Galadari Automobiles as a janitor and, according to a statement by Attorney General Essam Issa Al Humaidan, he tried to steal Dh458,000 from the company safe inside the accounts manager's office.

The loot was destined to pay for the defendant's sister's wedding in Pakistan.

The court has heard that the defendant confessed to murdering 32-year-old Nepalese security guard Padham Bhadur.

Bhadur was stabbed eleven times and his skull was crushed by a hammer.

Prosecutors said the defendant gave a full account of what happened in the lead-up to the murder.

Abdul Saboor said he bought a knife and gloves on the evening of the murder, then sneaked into the showroom around 1am and looked for the security guard usually seated behind the telephone operator's desk.

In his statement to the police, the defendant said the guard was sleeping inside a 4x4 Mazda CX9 but woke up as he walked nearer to the vehicle.

When the guard attempted to flee from his attacker, Abdul Saboor said he stabbed the guard eight times in the back and three times in the stomach.

Using a hammer, Abdul Sadoor smashed the gasping guard's head before gashing the man's leg and cutting off a finger.

With the guard out of the way, the defendant attacked the safe with a blowtorch but failed take out the cash before alarms went off.

He set fire to the office in the hopes of burning any evidence left behind.