Student sets Dubai villa door on fire after quarrel

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Student sets Dubai villa door on fire after quarrel

Dubai - A petrol station's CCTV cameras captured the defendant purchasing fuel.

by

Marie Nammour

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Published: Mon 21 Jan 2019, 2:44 PM

Last updated: Mon 21 Jan 2019, 7:35 PM

A student is facing charges at a Dubai court for allegedly setting a villa door on fire and putting the lives of its residents at risk.

Public prosecution records show that on June 27, 2018, the 21-year-old Emirati student poured inflammable material on the door of an Emirati family's villa and started a fire that caused damage worth Dh12,000.

He faces arson and damage of private property charges at the Court of First Instance.

A case was registered on the same day at Al Rashidiya police station.

The complainant, a 51-year-old Emirati, said it was around 9pm when he suddenly spotted a strong light coming from his villa door. "I saw the door was on fire. I immediately picked up a water hose and tried to put the fire off. I saw a man pouring some material on the door to feed the flames."

According to the complainant's testimony, the suspect then fled the scene in a four-wheel drive that had a covered registration plate.

The complainant recounted to the prosecutor that his son had a verbal brawl with the defendant earlier that night and the latter told him "it is a matter of time between us".

A police captain said that they arrested the defendant around 11.30pm the same night of the incident in Al Warqa. "He admitted to the charge. He confessed he had a quarrel with the victim's son at a café in International City, which prompted him to drive his car to a petrol station where he got Dh25 worth of fuel."

The officer added that the defendant confessed in the presence of his father, who acknowledged the student's guilt. "The petrol station's CCTV cameras captured the defendant while purchasing the material," the officer told the prosecutor.

That footage was included in the case file by the investigators as public prosecution evidence.

The trial has been adjourned to February 17.

mary@khaleejtimes.com


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