Duo assaults Al Ain fuel station employee over windshield cleaning, ordered to perform community service

Al Ain Criminal Court convicted two people after they were found guilty of assaulting a fuel station employee under duress while he was performing his duties as a public servant, due to a dispute over cleaning the windshield of their vehicle.

The court ordered the defendants to perform community service for two months at the same fuel station where the incident occurred and fined them Dhs50,000 each, on charges of assaulting a public service employee and disturbing public order.

The case dated back to a report that the two defendants assaulted the victim following a dispute over cleaning the windshield of the first defendant’s vehicle.

The driver of the vehicle asked the victim to clean the windshield of his vehicle and when the victim informed him that he had to wait for some time due to the long queues, an argument broke out that snowballed into an assault.

The victim sustained multiple injuries and bruises that were documented in a medical report.

The court based its ruling on the evidence contained in the case file, most notably the transcripts of the camera footage that proved the details of the altercation and assault by the defendants, as well as the defendants’ confession before the court, the statements of witnesses to the incident and the medical report attached to the case papers.

The court stated that this ruling came in implementation of the provisions of the law on crimes and penalties, which criminalised assaulting a public employee or someone entrusted with a public service, or resisting him with force or violence during or because of the performance of his duties.

It stressed that respecting the law and resorting to official channels when any dispute occurs was the best behaviour to avoid legal accountability.