Picture used for illustrative purposes.

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced four Africans in presence and another in absentia to three months in jail to be followed by deportation and fined them Dhs8,000 on theft charges.

The case dated back to last July when a café manager in Al Wasl filed a complaint in which he stated that Dhs8,000 had been stolen from his workplace safe.

The complainant stated that in the morning of the incident, he discovered that money had been stolen from his safe and that there was no clear evidence that it was broken.

According to the official documents, a team of detectives gathered inferences and concluded that three of the suspects were working in the café. They were arrested and on interrogation, they admitted that they had planned to steal money from the café in collaboration with others.

One of the defendants admitted that he communicated with other Africans and told them where the keys to the outer door of the café and the safe used to be kept. Another defendant sent the location of the café to the other defendants via WhatsApp and agreed with them on the appropriate time to rob the café.

The other defendants admitted to having stolen the money after getting the key to the café, which was usually put in a place outside the café by the last worker to finish work.