Five bootleggers will see out their five-year prison sentences for killing a man and assaulting another who posed as policemen to seek bribes.
The Indian men, aged between 25 and 28, were selling alcohol to passers-by in Al Quoz industrial area when they were approached by the two victims, including an Egyptian, 47.
"They said the two men posed as police officers and asked for money not to arrest them," said an Emirati policeman, 29.
But on December 30 last year, the five discovered the pair were not police officers and decided to attack them.
"We were walking back to our accommodation when the men appeared carrying sticks," said the Egyptian blacksmith. "They attacked us and hit us all over our bodies, but I escaped and didn't look back so I didn't know what happened to my colleague.
Police arrested the defendants shortly after the second man was reported dead.
"They denied it at first but soon they admitted willingly," said an officer. "The first defendant admitted that on the day of the incident he called for the other defendants and they all waited for the victims."
He said the five said they did not mean for anyone to die. They just wanted to stop the men from blackmailing them.
A medical report confirmed the second man died as a result of the attack after his respiratory system shut down.
The five were found guilty of physical assault that led to the death of a person and the injury of another.
They will all be deported after serving their prison terms.
