Prison escapees jailed for three years each

The men escaped from their cell at Dubai’s Central Prison through a hole behind the toilet.

DUBAI // Four men who escaped from prison by making a hole behind the toilet in their cell before scaling a wall using a ladder made of pipes from an air conditioning unit have been sentenced to three years in jail each.

At Dubai Criminal Court last month, the three Iranians and an Iraqi, aged between 21 and 52, admitted escaping and causing Dh16,750 of damages to prison facilities in the process.

“It’s true, but the hole was there already, it was small and we dug it bigger,” the defendants said.

Shortly after midnight on July 7 last year, the men escaped from their cell at Dubai’s Central Prison through the hole.

They sneaked through the health services unit and used a copy of an emergency exit key to get outside before climbing over the outer wall using the ladder.

The fugitives did not get very far and were arrested the next day in the desert.

Prison guards did not notice the men were missing until about 2am.

“I immediately conducted a check of the cells then found the hole in their cell,” said an Emirati police lieutenant, 33.

Court records did not say why the men were in prison.

All four will be deported after serving their jail terms.