Man jailed for scrap theft attempt, assault

abu dhabi — A man in Abu Dhabi has been sentenced to one year in prison after he was convicted of thrashing a metal scrap dealer and breaking his jaw when the latter tried to stop him from stealing old car spare parts from his store at night.

The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance handed the jail term to the Pakistani man after he was found guilty of attempted theft, assault and speeding.

Official court records pointed out that the man had gone to the scrap store in the Musaffah area and chose some used-car items on the pretext of buying them. He asked for the prices of the materials and then walked away after ‘failed’ negotiations.

Later, he returned to the store — in the scrapyard — at midnight, to steal the same items.

The owner, who was still around, tried to stop him after he spotted the man stealing the stuff from the store. The dealer screamed “thief ” for attention.

Prosecutors said the thief then kicked the store owner, punched him in the face and pushed him down on the floor.

“The man rushed to his car, which he had parked nearby, and fled the scene,” said prosecutors.

A medical report revealed that the dealer suffered a broken jaw and injuries to his nose and forehead.

The man rushed to his car, which he had parked nearby, and fled the scene.” Public prosecutor

Police patrols in the area had stopped the speeding man and asked him on why he was driving at such a high speed late at night.

The man said he was returning home after visiting a friend. Just then, the cops received a call from the operations room, notifying them about a man who was on the run in the area after attacking a shop owner.

Based on the description provided by the operations room, the patrol officers arrested the Pakistani and referred him to the public prosecution.

During public prosecution interrogation, the man first denied attacking the store owner and the theft bid.

However, he later admitted to the charges after he was shown evidence that he was at the crime scene at the time of the attack and after the victim testified against him.

Prosecutors had charged him with assaulting the metal scrap store owner, attempted theft and speeding. He, however, denied the charges throughout his trial in court. The Pakistani man will be deported after serving his jail sentence.