Photo has been used for illustrative purposes

Ehab Atta, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Criminal Court on Thursday sentenced six Asians to 10 years in jail to be followed by deportation after being convicted of an attempted murder of a man, 53, in his apartment to steal 8 silver bars and Dhs24,000 from a safe there. The defendants stabbed the victim several times in the chest and neck until he lost consciousness, stole the silver bars and money and ran away.

According to the official records, the 6th defendant, who is still at large, told the first defendant that people staying in an apartment in Al Nakheel possessed money illegally and proposed that they steal that money.

The first and sixth defendants agreed with the other four defendants to rob the apartment. Several days before the incident, the defendants went to the apartment but left later after feeling that there were people in the apartment. On the day of the incident, the sixth, who was familiar to and previously dealt with the people in the apartment, knocked at the door of the apartment while the other defendants hid nearby.

As soon as the victim opened the door, the sixth defendant pushed him away while the fifth defendant stabbed him twice in the left side of his chest. The victim fell on the floor and when he tried to get up, the first defendant stabbed him several times in the neck. The sixth defendant then brought a piece of cloth and put it in the victim’s mouth so that nobody would hear him screaming. The sixth defendant asked the victim about the safe’s key and the victim replied that it was hung on the wall before he lost consciousness.

The first defendant took the key and tried to open the safe but failed. They then began to search for the key, which they found after breaking a drawer. The defendants opened the safe and found 8 silver bars and Dhs24,000, which they divided among them. The second, third and fourth defendants were assigned to keep an eye on the place during the operation.