DUBAI // A member of a gang that tried to steal electrical cables from a du signal station but ran off when they spotted a security guard, has been sentenced to a year in jail.
Dubai Criminal Court convicted the 22-year-old Pakistani of theft.
On April 18, 2015, the gang stopped their van near the du station in Jebel Ali at about 4pm and broke the lock to gain entry.
They started cutting cables and loading them into their van when a security guard who was patrolling the area spotted them.
“They left everything behind, even the vehicle, and ran away,” said the Nepalese guard, 35, who called police.
The vehicle had a stolen licence plate but DNA from a cigarette butt found inside later led officers to the defendant, who by that time he was in jail for another theft case.
“We questioned him and he denied taking part in the incident but when we confronted him with the DNA evidence, he confessed and said his role was to keep guard for the men until they loaded the stolen cables,” said an Emirati policeman.
He said the other men could not be identified because he only knew their first names. They are still at large.
The defendant denied a charge of theft when he appeared in court in November last year, however, he was found guilty and will be deported after serving his prison term.
salamir@thenational.ae