Gang members who killed a man in Dubai to see out their jail terms

Two rival gangs fought in Dubai International City because one was allegedly encroaching on the other's bootlegging business

Sixteen men from two rival gangs whose fight led to the death of one man and seriously injured another will see out their seven-year jail sentences.

On March 23, 2016, the Chinese men, aged between 19 and 47, gathered in a car park in Dubai International City at 9pm. Armed with axes, swords and metal bars, the two gangs fought.

The fight was caught on video by a tenant whose flat overlooked the car park.

The video showed two severely injured men being dragged into a car before the defendants fled the scene.

Police and an ambulance crew arrived at the scene to find the two injured men in the car, though one had already died.
A 27-year-old Emirati police lieutenant said blood was spilled across the car park where they also found an axe, sword and metal bar with a sharp end.
The tenant's video helped police identify 19 members of the two gangs. Only sixteen arrests were made as three men remain at large, with one of them having fled to Oman.
During police questioning, a number of the defendants admitted to fighting on the orders of their gang leaders, who told them the rival gang was encroaching on their bootlegging business.

Witnesses told Dubai Criminal Court they saw the men arrive in cars and then heard loud noises and screams.
"I was on the balcony when I saw several cars arrive and a large number of Chinese men armed with axes and bars stepping out of them," said the 38-year-old Egyptian, who filmed the fight.
A Yemeni driver, 50, who was having dinner at a nearby restaurant at the time, told prosecutors that the men were armed and almost all of them were covered in blood.
Dubai Police with Fujairah's force to arrest some of the defendants in the mountains of the East-coast emirate.

The 16 defendants denied charges of murder and physical assault that caused injuries to another.
They were all convicted by Dubai Criminal Court and sentenced to seven years in jail to be followed by deportation. The sentence was upheld by the court of Appeal.