DUBAI// A teenager who threatened to kill his father, mother and sisters with a meat cleaver was given a three-month suspended jail sentence on Monday.
O A, 19, who holds a Comoros Islands passport, stormed into his family home in Oud Metha brandishing the weapon after he suspected a family member of stealing Dh3,000 from him. He also caused damage to the house and their cars.
He denied the charges when he appeared at Dubai Criminal Court earlier this month, saying: "I did not threaten him. He is my father, how can I threaten him?"
He added: “I was just talking to my mother and asking her about my missing money.”
The father testified that his son was acting completely out of character. “He did not ask me about any money. I just want him to be good, he doesn’t listen to me,” the father explained.
The judge asked the father if he wanted the son to be jailed. “If you send him to jail your honour, he is lost and I’m lost after him,” he said.
The judge chastised O A for his attitude to his parents.
“Who speaks to his father like that?” he said. “He raised you and brought you up. He only wants what’s best for you and when talking to your parents you have to do it politely and with utmost respect.”
salamir@thenational.ae