DUBAI // A worker bludgeoned a drinking partner to death with a stick because he did not want to listen to his family problems, a court heard on Monday.
Prosecutors said that the Indian worker, 26, assaulted the man after drinking with him at a sandy area in Jebel Ali in December last year.
The victim started talking about his problems to the defendant and another worker, 30, who has been charged with failing to report a crime.
The worker refused to listen to the victim’s complaints, leading to an argument, then a fistfight. The victim picked up a stick and hit the defendant on his leg and knee.
The third man had helped the defendant until he picked up the stick.
“I grabbed the stick and came behind the victim who was talking on the phone, and hit him with the stick to the back of the head,” the defendant told prosecutors.
He then went back to his room. Police arrested him that day.
A forensic report confirmed that the victim died from a blow to the back of the head.
At Dubai Criminal Court on Monday, the accused denied a charge of assault leading to death but pleaded guilty to the charge of drinking without a licence.
His colleague denied the charge of failing to report a crime but also confessed to drinking alcohol without a licence.
The next hearing is scheduled for April 13.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
