DUBAI // A security guard who burgled the apartments he was supposed to be watching was today sentenced to two years in prison.
SY, a 22-year-old from India, was caught when he stole Dh100,000 worth of gold plates from one of the apartments.
Prosecutors told the Dubai Criminal Court that he used the building's fire escape staircase to gain access to the various apartments in the building.
He would then enter through kitchen windows and steal what he could find.
Prosecutors said that he had been carrying out such burglaries "for a long time", before being caught. He was arrested after a 34-year-old Syrian tenant, MM, reported the theft of his wife's 66 gold plates worth more than Dh100,000 on January 11.
The tenant said he returned to his flat on the second floor of the Balhasa Building at about 10pm to find the safe in his wife's wardrobe broken and the gold plates missing.
He said that two of the plates weighed 100 grams, while the rest were 7.2gm.
Prosecutors said that the security guard sent one of the 100gm plates to India and sold the other to SA, a 53-year-old Iranian goldsmith. The goldsmith was said to have paid the security guard Dh6,000 for the plate. The court heard he then sold it on to RR, a 54-year-old Indian goldsmith, for Dh20,100.
Both goldsmiths were found guilty of receiving stolen goods. The Iranian goldsmith was sentenced to a year in prison to be followed by deportation while the Indian goldsmith was fined Dh5,000.
The remaining plates were recovered from behind the fire escape staircase where the security guard hid them. The security guard admitted a charge of theft.
salamir@thenational.ae
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What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
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According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
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England 0 Portugal 0
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Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
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- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
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Barcelona 5 (Lenglet 2', Vidal 29', Messi 34', 75', Suarez 77')
Valladolid 1 (Kiko 15')
Key facilities
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- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
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- 600-seat auditorium
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Name: buybackbazaar.com
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Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
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