Photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A wanted vehicle robber hid behind a new passport since he and others stole a vehicle in 2011, a jury heard on Sunday.

The unemployed Asian defendant, 42, his colleague, 57, and an accomplice who died a period later, used a screwdriver to break into a Dhs87,000 Toyota Hilux, place it on a recovery vehicle and take it away.

He refuted the allegations and argued that on the date of the incident he was in his homeland. He presented his passport as proof. His colleague also denied and argued that he has been behind bars for eight years.

Both men presented defence memos seeking to be cleared. Prosecutors demanded the Dubai Criminal Court to hand them tough punishments. Judge Mohamed Jamaal Kamel set Sept.24 for the ruling. On the record, an Emirati lieutenant said the victim contacted the police complaining that he parked his numberless vehicle in front of a Dubai company to place a sticker on it before it could be shipped to Ethiopia. 

He habitually went to the company to check on it. He later went there and found it missing. Police conducted investigations and discovered that the gang in question was behind the theft. They were repeat offenders.

Police traced and arrested the defendant’s colleague and the (deceased) accomplice. They confessed to have stolen several vehicles with the help of the defendant.

Both explained that the defendant and the accomplice would search for and select vehicles to steal, those without number plates. They would return at night. The defendant would smash the targeted vehicle’s window.

He would enter and move the gear and handbrake to load the vehicle onto a recovery truck driven by the colleague. The latter would take the vehicle to a place in Sharjah to be placed in a container and shipped abroad.

“The defendant denied and argued that he was abroad during the date of the incident in question. However, investigations showed he was present but fled and returned on a new passport,” said the lieutenant.