DUBAI // A Pakistani driver who was charged with stabbing a compatriot in the eye with a screwdriver was found not guilty on Sunday.
The 30-year-old defendant denied a charge of physical assault and causing a permanent disability. He had earlier told Dubai Criminal Court that the man had stabbed himself.
Prosecutors had said that on July 5 last year, the 35-year-old victim was asked by a Pakistani friend to guard his lorry in Jebel Ali while it filled with water.
“I stood there as my friend left for a few minutes. It was then when the defendant arrived and asked me to move the tanker and I told him I was not the driver,” he said.
“I told him the driver will be back soon but he did not listen and started screaming then walked towards his tanker.”
The defendant was accused of then attacking the man with a large screwdriver, stabbing him several times in the right eye.
The injured man fell to the ground unconscious. The defendant was said to have been restrained before police were called.
The driver of the first tanker said the defendant had confessed to him that he had stabbed the victim. “He was very scared as he confessed to me,” said the 30-year-old witness.
However, the court found the defendant not guilty, though no explanation was given.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
