Trio on trial for sword assault, robbery

sharjah — Three Africans attacked a money transfer vehicle employee using swords before stealing money, a Sharjah court heard on Monday. The gang assaulted an employee while he was carrying a bag containing cash to load an ATM at Al Safeer Shopping Centre in Sharjah.

The incident dates back to December 14, 2016. Alerted about the robbery, the police immediately dispatched forensic experts, criminal investigation department (CID) officers and patrol vehicles to the spot. At the site, the police found that the employee was injured after the defendants attacked him for resisting their robbery attempt.

Presiding judge Hussein Al Assawi confronted the three defendants at the hearing on Monday. One of them had tried to pull the money bag from the employee while the other hit him with a sword, injuring his hand and shoulder. The judge also questioned the driver of the money transfer vehicle who saw his colleague being attacked. While the driver admitted to witnessing the attack, the gang members denied it. They said there were many people in the area where the robbery took place, including nine who were arrested and later released, except them. The first defendant claimed he did not know the other defendants. The case was adjourned to the end of August to hear testimonies of the money transfer vehicle staff.

afkarali@khaleejtimes.com