Man charged for robbing, assaulting woman 10 years ago in Abu Dhabi

The Arab man had seized a small bag and a mobile phone from an Asian woman in 2008.

A 25-year-old passenger, who was convicted in absentia 10 years ago over assaulting and robbing a woman, is being tried afresh after authorities detained him recently while in transit at the Abu Dhabi airport.
The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court heard that the young Arab man had seized a small bag and a mobile phone from an Asian woman, along with his three friends, in 2008 and then fled the scene.
Officers said they had also filmed the woman on phone as they robbed her.
The woman later filed a police complaint but investigations showed that the youngster had left the country. The Arab man was aged 15 then.
Prosecutors filed the case in court after probe suggested that the teen and his colleagues had robbed the woman.
They were all sentenced to 10 years in jail with the young man in absentia. The court had also ordered that he be sent to a juveniles detention centre because he was under 18.
Recently, the young man was spotted in the transit hall at the Abu Dhabi airport having arrived from a neighbouring country after visiting a friend. The youngster was waiting for a flight to travel to a US university for studies.
The security authorities detained him and he would face the charges for a crime he committed a decade back. 
Security authorities handed him over to the prosecutors, who took him to court to hear into his case again and also give him a chance to defend himself.
In court, the young man denied the charges against him stressing that he doesn't remember harming anyone while in the UAE.
His lawyer argued that his client was too young at the time and that he couldn't have committed the crime against the woman.
He also said the records show that the robbed woman had withdrawn her right to retribution against her client.

• Abu Dhabi