Teddy bear lands student in court

Labourer says he saw the student rip out the teddy bear from a closed shop's front window late at night.

DUBAI // A Dh20 teddy bear has landed a student in court after prosecutors claimed he stole it from a shop window.

AA, a 20-year-old student from the Comoros Islands, was reported by a 26-year-old Pakistani labourer who said he saw the defendant ripping the teddy bear from a closed shop's front window in February.

"I was walking in Muraqabbat area at 1.30am near Al Ghurair centre when I saw him robbing the teddy bear," he told prosecutors. "I tried to stop him but he hit me on the head with the teddy bear and then kicked me in the genitals."

The witness claimed he fell on the ground and the defendant continued kicking him until he a friend answered his cries for help.

AA, however, insists he found the bear on the ground on the way to his car. His lawyer told the Dubai Court of First Instance that no grown man would risk prosecution for a Dh20 teddy bear.

"The teddy bear was in the street, not inside the shop," the lawyer said. "There is no crime in grabbing a damaged teddy bear found on the ground."

AA denies theft. A verdict will be issued next month.