7 years in jail, Dh20,000 fine for speeding, reckless driving in UAE

Fujairah - They drove against the direction of traffic and damaged two police vehicles.

Two young Arab drivers have been sentenced to seven years in jail for speeding and reckless driving. The Fujairah Court of First Instance also ordered them to pay a Dh20,000 fine each, but they filed an appeal against the verdict.

The duo faced nine charges, including reckless driving, driving at a speed of 160kmph, driving against the direction of traffic, posing grave risk to road users, disobeying security officers, ramming into and damaging two police patrols, causing injuries to two people, and drug abuse.

The first defendant was driving the car and a friend was sitting next to him, court records showed.

When the policemen ordered them to stop the vehicle, they refused to do so. Instead, they hit the police patrol, injured two officers, and fled the scene.

More patrols were deployed across the roads of Fujairah to track them down.

When they were spotted, the driver refused to pull over. Patrols surrounded the vehicle and managed to get the duo out of the car.

The two defendants were arrested and referred to the public prosecution and then to the court, where they denied the charges.

The second defendant told the court that he was not driving the car and had nothing to do with all the charges. However, he admitted to abusing drugs.

He added that it was the police patrol that collided with them. "We did not even know it was a police car as there were no signs or lights."

The Fujairah Court of First Instance found them guilty and issued the jail term and fine.

However, the two defendants approached the higher court, with their defence lawyer saying they did not know they were being tracked down by the police.

"There were tracked by regular cars with no police signs, lights, sirens or speakers," she said.

The Fujairah Court of Appeal adjourned the trial until next week, when a ruling is expected.

ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com

• Fujairah