Policeman has jail term cut to a fine

Four men sent to jail for club brawl pay Dh7,000 instead

DUBAI // A policeman sentenced to three months in jail for trying to kill two men by stabbing them after a nightclub argument has had his prison sentence reduced to a fine.

The Emirati, 41, was convicted of attempting to murder a Jordanian salesman, 30, and a Syrian marketing manager, 27, on February 19 last year at a Dubai hotel.

He and an Emirati inspector, 35, were convicted of physically assaulting the men, but the Jordanian, Syrian and their Lebanese friend, 27, a sales representative, were also found guilty of assaulting the Emirati pair.

While at the nightclub at the Capitol Hotel in Al Hudaiba, the five men had an argument and started fighting. Security guards broke it up but a few minutes later they started again and were escorted out. “When we removed them, two of them engaged in a fist fight and our security guards broke them apart, but a few seconds later we could hear one of them screaming,” said the Lebanese head of security at the club. “When we looked, we saw him bleeding from a stab wound in his stomach.”

Security staff called an ambulance and police and the two men who were stabbed were taken to Rashid Hospital.

A forensic expert at Dubai Police said that the Jordanian man’s injury could have been fatal were it not for the prompt medical intervention.

The Syrian told prosecutors that the policeman punched him in the chest then stabbed him in the waist. “He wanted to stab me again but the guards stopped him, which saved my life because he intended to kill me,” the man said.

All five were sentenced to three months in jail, but yesterday the Dubai Court of Appeal ruled that four of them would have their prison terms overturned and replaced with a Dh7,000 fine each.

The inspector won only a reduced jail term from three to two months. While the case was being heard at the Appeals Court in August, Judge Fahad Al Shamsi offered the five men a chance to reach an out-of-court settlement, but they declined. For more on COURTS, visit thenational.ae/topics