Unemployed men found not guilty of Dh200,000 cable theft

Pakistanis were accused of stealing electric cables from the site of an under-construction hospital on the outskirts of Dubai.

DUBAI // Three jobless men were found not guilty of stealing Dh200,000 worth of electric cables from the under-construction Al Amal Hospital site.

At Dubai Criminal Court in August, the Pakistani defendants, aged 29, 30 and 35, denied a charge of theft.

Prosecutors said that on May 12, the trio used a cutter to steal the cables from the hospital site in Lahbab, on the outskirts of Dubai.

A Jordanian electric engineer, 32, said the theft went unnoticed because the men allegedly cut parts of each cable, leaving the rest of it.

“I was informed of the theft by a police officer who came to the construction site with one of the defendants,” said the engineer.

A 31-year-old Emirati police officer said they received several reports of cables thefts in different areas of Dubai, after which investigations revealed the three men were involved and they were apprehended.

“During questioning, they confessed to stealing cables from several locations including that of the hospital construction site,” said the officer, adding that the trio confessed willingly to all incidents.

Police seized the pick-up truck the men allegedly used in the thefts and found stolen number plates.

However, the court on Tuesday found the men not guilty, though no reason for the verdict was given.