Abu Dhabi pesticide death case sent back to appeals

ABU DHABI // The conviction of a man found guilty of manslaughter has been sent back to appeals after the judge did not sign the verdict.

The Egyptian defendant, who owns a pest control company, was found guilty of the death of a woman, after staff from his unlicensed business failed to follow proper procedures in handling pesticides.

Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance found him guilty in November, and ordered him to pay Dh30,000 for the manslaughter charge, Dh100,000 in blood money and Dh100,000 on behalf of his company.

The victim, from Sudan, lived in the same apartment building in which the company used the “extremely strong, poisonous pesticide”, the court heard. The incident took place on June 29.

At an appeal in January, two of the fines were reduced, from Dh30,000 to Dh20,000 for the manslaughter charge, and from Dh100,000 to Dh50,000 for the company.

But at the cassation court, the initial verdict was deemed invalid because it did not include the signature of the judge.

The second verdict was also invalid, leading to the case being returned to the appeals court.