Court reject’s mugger’s acquittal request

DUBAI: A mugger whose accomplices fled ater unwitingly locking him up at the crime scene has failed to convince a jury to quash his punishment.

The unemployed Asian man, 41, with the help of three compatriot robbers atacked a Pakistani realtor, 29, inside a massage spa in the Dubai International City on May 3, Rashidiyah Police Station records showed.

They shoved him down and thrust blows on his eye, nose and head and snatched his wallet, Emirates ID, Pakistan ID, bank card and Dhs1, 400. The Dubai Criminal Court jailed him for one year plus deportation.

He appealed seeking to challenge the ruling. Records revealed he confessed before police and prosecutors that he and three others assaulted, restrained and robbed the victim. The Appeals Court rejected his plea.

The realtor was in the city’s Spanish cluster seeking massage services when he came across a massage advertisement card stuck to a car windshield. He picked it up and contacted the provided number.

A lady responded and directed him to a flat she identified as a massage spa. There, she welcomed him in. He spoted the defendant siting on a sofa. He was asking her about costs when the defendant walked out.

She shut the door and massaged him. Thereafter, he opened the door to leave. The defendant and two others stood in his way and slammed the door in his face. He fell down inside the flat. They shut the door. They kicked, slapped, punched, restrained and robbed him. His nose bled. They dragged him to the sofa. The two guarded him while the defendant filmed him with his mobile and threated to hand him to the police.

The defendant also vowed to see him detained and punished because he was massaged and that the practice was a crime. The muggers and the lady got frightened and dashed out. They locked the door from outside.

In a frantic bid to escape, the defendant jumped from the flat’s balcony into the balcony of an adjacent building. Its watchman pinned him and called the police.