ABU DHABI// Seven men who were involved in car crashes with a police vehicle while they were being chased for driving without a number plate have had their jail sentences upheld by the Court of Cassation.
The men, who were between the ages of 18 and 24, were reported to police for reckless driving, making a noise and for endangering others.
When police spotted their car, the driver refused to stop, then crashed into the patrol cars and escaped.
As police searched for them, they found a second car pulling off similar stunts.
As they chased it, the front seat passenger made obscene gestures at the policemen and the driver also crashed into the police car while fleeing.
Police found the first car parked in a rural area, after its passengers tried to disguise it, and arrested them.
Officers found the second car hidden at an abandoned farm and arrested its driver and passenger.
Police also arrested a motorist who refused to move out of the way during the police chase.
The Court of Misdemeanours convicted the drivers of the two cars of intentionally endangering other people’s lives on the roads, driving without licence plates and driving against traffic.
The first driver was also convicted of disobeying the orders of a policeman.
He was also found guilty of causing excessive noise and of not switching on his car’s lights at night. He was sentenced to three years and five months in jail and a Dh10,000 fine.
The second driver was also convicted of driving despite an official order banning him from getting behind the wheel. He was sentenced to one year and one month in jail and a Dh12,000 fine.
The third defendant was fined Dh30,000 for threatening a public employee, and the fourth defendant was sentenced to a year in jail for attacking a public employee and committing an obscene act.
The fifth and sixth defendants were sentenced to a month in jail because they did not report the offences and helped their co-defendants escape the police.
The motorist who did not move out of the way of the chasing police was sentenced to a month in jail and confiscation of his car.
Both the appeals and cassation upheld the lower court’s verdict.
hdajani@thenational.ae