A taxi driver who threatened to kill a woman over a financial dispute has had his six-month jail sentence reduced by half.
The Ethiopian man, 39, sent her threatening messages after she asked him to return Dh2,500 she had lent him.
She had been introduced to him by her brother in June last year, after she told her sibling she needed taxi services.
“I started calling him whenever I wanted a taxi. Then he needed to borrow money, so I gave him Dh2,500 and my brother gave him Dh2,000,” the woman, 21, told the court.
When she asked him to repay her, he began sending her WhatsApp messages in which he threatened to kill her and her family if she told police.
“He simply refused to pay back the money and threatened me,” said the woman, who is also from Ethiopia.
She reported him to Al Qusais Police Station and showed the officers a message that read: “If you cause me to be arrested and be sent to prison over this, I will kill you and your children – even if they are in Ethiopia.”
During police questioning, the man admitted sending the messages but said he did not mean them.
Prosecutors found multiple messages in the defendant’s native language, which were translated and provided to court as evidence.
Dubai Criminal Court convicted the man of sending death threats and sentenced him to six months in prison followed by deportation.
At the emirate’s Court of Appeal on Wednesday, his sentence was reduced to three months followed by deportation.
