Guard steals employer’s scaffolds worth Dhs5,000 over four months’ unpaid wages

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A watchman connived with a countryman to rob scaffolds from his employer’s construction site over unpaid wages.

He was on Thursday sent to spend six months in internment.

The Asian defendant, 21, was on duty at the site in Jebel Ali when he waged several theft campaigns.

He stole scaffolds worth Dhs5,000 and on Sept.4 tried to steal more, prosecutors told the Criminal Court.

The court imprisoned him for six months plus deportation over robbery and attempted robbery.

Prosecutors accused his countryman, 22, of aiding him. The court caged him for three months plus deportation.

The site’s Indian inspector narrated that an employee contacted him at around 9:00am telling him he spotted a Pickup vehicle that did not belong to their employer’s construction company, being loaded with scaffolds.

“I rushed to the site and found the watchman around. I asked him how the strange pickup managed to access the site. He initially contended that he too thought the vehicle belonged to one of our suppliers.

“During further questioning, he confessed to have been in the habit of selling scaffolds to his countryman.”

The countryman would load them on his vehicle and take them to buyers in Sharjah and pocket proceeds.

During police interrogations, he argued he worked at the site as its watchman but the management declined to pay him his wages for four months.

He said he was left with no option but to facilitate access to robbers.

His countryman on being questioned confessed and said he obtained the watchman’s permission to enter the site and take some pieces of metal that he sold to buyers in Sharjah.

He paid him a Dhs400 reward.

During prosecution questioning, the watchman confessed and explained that the countryman came and asked to take some scrap from the site for a pay.

“I allowed him to take scaffolds. He paid me Dhs400. Days later, he returned to take more scaffolds. We were caught,” he explained.

He added that his countryman was aware he was the watchman and what they were doing was robbery.