Sword attack man has sentence increased to 10 years over Emirati’s death

The 21-year-old appealed against his three-year sentence but found himself now serving 10 years after the case was heard by Dubai appeals court.

DUBAI // An Emirati has had a three-year sentence for causing the death of a compatriot in a sword attack increased by Dubai Court of Appeal to 10 years.

The 21-year-old was sentenced by Dubai Criminal Court in January on a charge of physical assault leading to death, while a fellow Emirati, 43, was acquitted.

The man appealed his sentence and prosecutors appealed the acquittal. Dubai Court of Appeal rejected the man’s plea and increased his sentence but upheld the acquittal.

Police were called to the scene of the sword attack on June 4 last year and followed a trail of blood to find the victim lying in the street and bleeding heavily. His blood was also splashed on the wall of a school in Al Quoz and he died later that day due to the stab wounds.

A 27-year-old Emirati testified that at about 6pm on the day of the incident he was contacted by his friend, the victim.

“He told me he was bored so I headed to his place then we went for a drive,” said the witness, adding that they saw four men stood near the Aneesa Al Ansari school.

“He stopped his car and walked towards them because he knew a couple of them. We started chatting then I returned to the car but I could see him still talking.”

Minutes later the friend heard the victim scream and saw the 21-year-old stab the victim with a large knife before pushing him against the wall of the school.

The witness said his friend began to run away, while two of the four men chased him.

“I tried to chase the attackers in the car,” said the friend, adding that he lost them. He found out later that his friend had died.

A Pakistani limousine chauffeur, 27, told the court that he stopped his car near a bowling centre when the victim stepped in front of him.

“He stood right in front of the limo, so I stopped and got out to check on him and found him bleeding heavily. I asked him what happened but as he spoke Arabic, I understood nothing,” said the driver, adding that an Emirati motorist stopped his car and tried to help as well.

“He took him to his car but the man got out and stretched out on the pavement, saying that people were chasing him and wanted to kill him,” the driver added.

An ambulance was called and the victim taken to hospital but he died that day.

A policeman, 26, told prosecutors that, when he arrived at the school, he found no one there and had to follow a trail of blood to find the victim.

“I followed the blood and found the man unconscious on the pavement at an intersection. He was bleeding from all over his body. I called for an ambulance,” said the officer.

The policeman later received a report of another fight in the same neighbourhood. When he arrived he found the defendants.

“They told me they did not attack the victim but, in fact, he had attacked them. I told them that he was badly injured and bleeding heavily, then I took them to the police station,” said the officer.

A medical report attributed the man’s death to stab wounds and the perpetrator will now spend 10 years in jail.