Two jailed for attempted jewellery robbery

Pair posed as potential buyers before threatening a shop assistant with a knife.

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DUBAI// Two men were this morning convicted of the attempted armed robbery of a jewellery shop and jailed for two years by Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance.

MA, 31, and TA, 25, both from Pakistan, were charged with attempted armed robbery and damaging property, but admitted only planning to rob the shop in the Naif area of Deira in May.

The two men planned the armed robbery after watching the Diamond Palace store for a few days, prosecutors said. They entered the shop and posed as potential buyers.

They attacked AR, a sales assistant, with knives and MA gagged the victim then tried to throw him down, but AR resisted and screamed for help.

A sales assistant from the next shop said he heard screaming and rushed to the shop when he saw both men assaulting the victim.

They broke a plate-glass door in the shop when they ran through it to escape being caught, said a witness, AP, adding he chased them and caught one, whom he restrained until police arrived.

AP said when he caught AM, there was blood all over his shirt but his knife was left on the shop floor.

No jewellery was found when AM was caught. MA and TA will be deported after completing their sentence.

salamir@thenational.ae