A man who cut off a dog owner's hand with a sword in a fight over the pet has had his prison sentence reduced from seven years to three at Dubai Court of Appeal.
The attacker, 32, contacted the owner about a dog for sale, judges heard on Monday.
The men, both Emirati, agreed to meet at the seller's home in the Al Barsha area on October 29.
As they discussed the deal, the victim’s daughter asked her father not to sell the dog.
He agreed and told the visitor that he would not part with the pet, at which point the attacker became angry.
Their argument escalated into a fight, and the attacker ran to his car and returned armed with a sword.
The court was told that he struck the seller on the head, causing a fractured skull and leaving a deep wound.
As the seller raised his arm to defend himself, the attacker severed his right hand and cut into his left shoulder with the sword.
“He first struck the victim on the head but, as the victim raised his arms to shield his head, his right hand was chopped off at the wrist,” a police officer told the court.
“The assault continued, causing the victim multiple wounds.”
The victim’s family called the police and the attacker fled in his car.
An ambulance took the injured man to Rashid Hospital, where doctors were unable to reattach the hand.
Police arrested the attacker a week later at his home in Al Quoz.
He admitted to a charge of armed assault while being questioned by police, and again when the case was heard in court.
Dubai Criminal Court sentenced him to seven years in prison but judges at Dubai Court of Appeal reduced that to three.
Judges were told that this incident happened less than a year after the attacker was released from Dubai prison, where he served 10 years for physical assault leading to death.
In 2014 in Al Quoz, the man struck his friend with a sword.
The victim jumped into his car and drove away. Police said the injured man became unable to drive and stopped near a bowling alley in Al Quoz, where he succumbed to his injuries.
