Customs inspector acquitted of kidnapping charge

The court overturned the jail term handed down to Emirati K A, 28, in October last year. However, he was found guilty of physically assaulting Serbian S B, also 28, and endangering her life.

DUBAI // A Customs inspector who was sentenced to three years in jail for kidnapping a female friend was on Wednesday acquitted by the Dubai Court of Appeal.

The court overturned the term handed out to Emirati K A, 28, in October last year.

But he was found guilty of physically assaulting Serbian S B, also 28, and endangering her life.

He was sentenced to three months in jail on these two charges and fined Dh2,000.

The friend, who works for a computer services company, said he invited her to dinner on August 23, 2013.

“He asked me to park my car in a Jumeirah shopping mall and then he would come to pick me up,” she said.

The pair then went to a hotel in Festival City, where they had dinner and drank alcohol.

“At about 11pm, I asked him to drive me back to my car but instead he drove towards Sharjah,” she said.

“I asked him to take the first exit to Dubai but he sped up and only took the exit when I opened the door.”

She said he pulled her hair, slapped her face and kicked her legs. She opened the car door again and was about to jump out when he pulled her back by her hair.

Eventually she managed to jump out of the moving car.

She suffered bruising all over her body and the loss of sight in one eye in the fall. However, a forensic report said her loss of sight may not have been caused by the incident.

The appeals court also overturned an order to confiscate his car and a ruling that he pay her Dh21,000 in temporary compensation.

S B has the right to file a civil law suit requesting compensation.