Trio jailed for Dh2m kids' clothes robbery

Three men, who tried in vain to rob Dh2 million worth of goods from a warehouse, have each been sentenced to three months in jail.

Public prosecution records show the trio spent more than three hours trying to break the locks of a warehouse containing kids' clothes, but had to stop and run away after spotting a car approaching them.

The three Pakistani workers, aged between 21 and 33, tried to rob the warehouse located in Ras al Khor industrial area on the night of August 4. The warehouse belonged to a Chinese businesswoman.

The Court of First Instance found them guilty of an attempted robbery charge and ordered their deportation after serving their jail terms.

"I had rented the place as a warehouse for kids' clothes worth Dh2 million that I would sell in my shop," said the 31-year-old complainant.

At around 2:30am on August 3, she closed and locked the warehouse.  

On August 5 at around 7am, she called the police after she found that the locks of the warehouse were broken.

"I checked the goods and found nothing was stolen. I checked the CCTV recordings and found the thieves had come at 8:30pmon August 4. Two of them wearing masks tried to break the locks with a sharp tool. It took them three hours to break 2 out of 3 locks. But they had to flee the place after spotting a car coming," the owner told the prosecutor.

A police sergeant said: "With the CCTV recordings, we could get a clear photo of one of the thieves. We circulated it among CID officers and sources and nabbed him eventually. He led us to his accomplices on August 7."

Two of them admitted to the police that they had previously come to the warehouse and worked as porters for the owner. The third man claimed he was unaware of his friends' robbery plan and that he was just asked to accompany them.

During police interrogation, they confessed to have used a pair of scissors to break the locks and then disposed it of in Ras al Khor area.

Source: Khaleej Times