Three men who raided Dubai villa have sentences upheld

DUBAI // Three Afghans convicted of breaking into a villa and stealing a safe containing Dh70,000 must serve their three-year jail sentences, the Court of Appeal ruled.

D H, 23, R J, 24, and F J, 38, were armed with knives and swords when they raided the house in July last year and assaulted and tied up four men who lived there.

They stole Dh800 in cash, mobile phones, the safe and a number of official documents and ID cards.

The Afghans then gave the stolen items to a fourth man, Pakistani R K, 35, who lived at the villa.

“They tied us up and started searching our clothes and the room for money,” said 19-year-old Pakistani victim G B. “They beat us up as well.”

Investigations led to the arrest of D H, who told officers about the whereabouts of RJ and F J.

D H and R J denied robbery and detention charges in court last November, while F J was not present to enter a plea.

R K was charged with possessing stolen goods. He denied the charge.

However, R K, D H, R J and F J were all found guilty and jailed for three years to be followed by deportation.