Man jailed for stabbing Dubai police officer

DUBAI // An unemployed man who stabbed a police officer and tried to slit his throat after being found loitering outside a bank, will spend a year behind bars.

Afghan, A S, 25, was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to one year in jail followed by deportation. Dubai Criminal Court found him not guilty of another charge of issuing threats to kill.

He failed to appear at his first court hearing in January last year but when he appeared in court the following month, he denied both charges.

Emirati officer A A, 29, was on patrol on July 24, 2014 with colleagues when they spotted a number of men standing in front of a bank in Al Muraqqabat, Deira.

“We identified them as having criminal records, so we suspected them because they were standing watching bank clients,” said the officer. “When we tried to approach them, they ran, so we chased them.”

One of the men resisted, A A and then another and when the officer was not looking they came from behind and started strangling him before pulling a knife out and trying to slit his throat.

“He then waved the knife several times, trying to stab me. I avoided him but he managed to stab me in the hand and he kept threatening that he would kill me if he saw me again, then people interfered and restrained him,” said the officer.

Fellow policeman, E K, said five of the men had criminal records. “I chased a couple of them and when I returned to A A, I saw the defendant trying to assault A A, who was bleeding from his hand,” he said.