Man accused of stabbing younger brother, Abu Dhabi court hears

ABU DHABI // A man accused of stabbing his younger brother had threatened to kill him three months earlier, the criminal court heard today.

The sister of the two men, from Somalia, said that she was asleep on New Year's Eve while her parents were out of the country when the incident happened.

She woke up to screams coming from the kitchen. When she went to see what was happening she saw her older brother, AH, 26, running out of the house, while her other brother, HH, 23, was lying on the floor. He had been stabbed four times.

"I took him to the hospital, his state was not very bad, he was able to walk and talk," said the sister, whose initials were not given in court reports.

She said her two brothers would often fight, but it had never escalted to using knives before.

"Three months prior to the incident they had a big fight and AH threatened to kill HH," she said, "But my father was present and he made them reconcile."

AH would regularly drink alcohol, she added, as would HH, but not as often. HH is also charged with consuming alcohol.

AH denied the allegations, saying he had been kicked out of his family home several months ago by his mother and has not been back since.

In an earlier hearing AH accused his sister and another brother of framing him.

A verdict will be announced on March 16.