Waiter who stabbed flatmate after toilet dispute is jailed



A waiter who launched a frenzied knife attack on his flatmate after he complained about how long he was using the toilet for has been jailed.

The 62-year-old victim said he "lost count" of the amount of times he was stabbed during the savage assault at an apartment in Al Rifaa, Dubai.

Dubai Criminal Court heard that the 30-year-old attacker had been in the communal toilet for 30 minutes when the victim knocked on the door, wanting to use the facilities himself.

The incident took place at about 2pm on September 14 of this year.

Prosecutors said the defendant had set out to kill the man.

After the injured party knocked on the door, the Indian man hurled abuse at his compatriot before leaving the washroom and grabbing a weapon.

“I thought it was over, but he opened a bedside table’s drawer, pulled out a knife and started stabbing me heinously,” said the victim.

The man was repeatedly stabbed in the left part of his body including the chest, upper arm, thigh and calf.

“He stabbed me repeatedly I lost count of how many times he did it.”

A third flatmate –an Indian supervisor, 32,  intervened and dragged the defendant away, then called police.

The accused fled before emergency services arrived and rushed the victim to Rashid Hospital, where he underwent life-saving surgery.

The witness said that a heated argument broke out between the two after the victim knocked on the toilet door.

“He stepped out and insulted the victim and his mother then provocatively pulled off his belt and brandished it in front of the victim, threatening to whip him,” said the supervisor.

“He was in an abnormal condition and stabbed the victim madly.”

Police launched a hunt for the perpetrator and arrested him the following day.

The waiter denied an attempted murder charge but was convicted and sentenced to three years in jail, to be followed by deportation.

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'Worse than a prison sentence'

Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.

“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.

“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.

“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.

“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.

“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”

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