Gang in sword attack jailed for three months

A gang of three men who attacked another man's car with swords have been sentenced to three months each in jail.

DUBAI// A gang of three men who assaulted another man's car with swords after blocking his vehicle on the street were sentenced to three months each in prison, a court said this morning.

The defendants, all Emiratis, were riding in a Nissan Sunny when they jumped in front of a Honda Civic in the Al Warqa area, and stopped in the middle of the road.

They stepped out of the vehicle armed with swords.

When they headed towards the Honda Civic, the driver tried to reverse his vehicle, but bumped into another one that pulled up behind him, trapping him.

That's when other men who were not identified stepped out of the second car, also carrying swords, according to court records.

AM, 27; AS, 23; and SB, 26; cooperated with the other men in the attack, attempting to get the victim and a friend who was riding with him out of the vehicle. When they were unable to get them out of the car, they began to damage the car, the records showed.

The victims, MA, 23; and MM, 27; told prosecutors that about seven men attacked them.

A Dubai Police major told prosecutors that he spotted the accident and stepped out of his vehicle in full police uniform, and the defendants sped away.

However, the officer managed to write down the plate numbers of the vehicles.

AM appeared before the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance last February and denied all the charges, while the other defendants did not show up.

AS was separately facing charges of resisting four police officers and waving his sword at them before he fled, the records showed.

Prosecutors said the defendants, who were considered a gang, will be referred to the Misdemeanours Court for posing danger to others' lives and resisting police.

The court also ordered the confiscation of their weapons.

SB, who was sentenced in absentia, was also separately sentenced to three months in prison for assaulting a public employee.