A man who killed his friend by hitting him with a brick before running him over and setting him on fire has had his death sentence upheld by the Dubai Court of Appeal.
He said he carried out the attack over an affair he was having with the victim's wife.
The 32-year-old, who holds a Comoros Islands passport, admitted to a murder charge in February last year. He told the court he did it at his lover's request. "Yes it's true but I did it because of her," said the defendant. "It's all because of her nagging."
The wife of the deceased, 22, who also holds a Comoros Islands passport, was shaking when she appeared to deny charges of aiding and abetting and extra-marital sex. "I didn't kill my man, I didn't do anything," she said.
She was originally given a 15-year prison sentence for her role in the murder, but had her term increased after the appeal and will now spend her life behind bars.
The burning remains of the victim, who also held a Comoros Islands passport, were found at about midnight on October 14, 2016, in Al Qusais industrial area by an Indian security guard.
Police identified the body and questioned the man's wife, who said her husband had left on a fishing trip and was not answering her phone calls.
Police said the wife's answers to several of their questions were inconsistent, which raised suspicions that she may be involved in his death. After further investigations, the wife admitted to having an affair with her husband's friend.
Records showed that the two had been seeing each other for almost two years before the murder and conspired to kill her husband so they could be together. Following the wife's confession, her lover was arrested.
"I spotted a fire near an electrical transformer," the security guard told the court. "I went to check and saw that it was a body. I called my colleague to double-check if I was mistaken. He confirmed it was a human body so we called police."
A police major said: "He told us that the two of them planned that the wife would fake a fight with her husband. Then the lover would take the husband for a drive to calm him down, during which he would pick the right time to kill him."
The defendant tied up his friend, smashed a brick on his head and hit him repeatedly with a car door. He then drove back to the victim's house and met the wife.
"He told her what he did and that her husband was still alive in the back of the car, and asked her what he should do," said the major.
They agreed that the lover should kill the husband. He then ran over the victim before setting his body on fire. The plan was to burn the body beyond recognition.
The defendant had been charged with murder in court, drinking alcohol without a licence and having consensual extra-marital sex.
No date has been set for the execution.