Driver convicted of drunken groping

Salam al Amir

DUBAI // A driver was sentenced this morning to six months in prison for drunkenly groping a woman as she walked home in International City.

The 22-year-old MM, from Pakistan, confessed before the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance to sexual assault and consuming liquor. The court referred him to the Misdemeanours court for the drinking charge.

The Filipina victim, 30-year-old AJ, a cashier, told prosecutors that on April 2 she was walking to her apartment after finishing her shift at work. She testified that she saw the defendant walking with another man in the opposite direction.

When they passed AJ, prosecutors said, MM stretched out his hand and touched the woman's groin.

Police said he also confessed during investigations. He will be deported after serving his prison term.

salamir@thenational.ae

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He molested woman on the street as she walked home, prosecutors say.

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Student convicted of smuggling drugs in UAE

Dubai: A student will spend ten years behind bars for attempting to smuggle drugs into Al Rashidiya police station's detention centre with the intention of passing it on to a detainee.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the 20-year-old Emirati student, O.S., of possessing 1.02 grammes of heroin and trying to deliver it to the detainee, also an Emirati.

Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout, who pronounced Tuesday's ruling, also fined the accused Dh50,000.

When O.S. appeared in court, he confessed to the charge of possessing drugs but denied he had intended to smuggle it into the police lock-up. "Yes sir I possessed drugs… but I did not intend to deliver it into the police station," he argued.

An Emirati police officer testified that he found the drug hidden inside an article of clothing O.S. was carrying. "I was in charge of searching visitors to the detention centre. I found the heroin hidden inside one of the pants while searching the clothes that O.S. intended to deliver to the detainee. We detained O.S. and referred him to anti-narcotics police," the officer claimed.

Interrogation

An Emirati first lieutenant told prosecutors: "When I questioned O.S., he claimed that one of the detainees, named H.Y., asked him over the phone to bring him some clothes. The defendant alleged that he contacted H.Y.'s acquaintance and collected the clothes from him… then he got exposed carrying the drugs when he was searched at the police station. O.S. immediately denied any involvement over the drugs."

Prosecution records confirmed that O.S. tested negative for drugs.

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