Stabbing murder sentences increased to 10 years

DUBAI // The Dubai Court of Appeal this morning stiffened the prison terms for two men who stabbed a third man to death last year, giving them 10 years each instead of seven.

The two men had been convicted in March in the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance.

After the announcement of the original verdict, the mother of the victim, identified as Ahmed Sulaiman, from Somalia, broke down.

"There is no justice except that of God," she screamed. "Why not death? My son is gone, my son is gone, he is gone, and all they get is seven years."

The Abu Dhabi-born Somalian AO, 24, and his compatriot AM, 26, had denied the charges. AO told prosecutors he did not intend to kill Mr Sulaiman but was defending himself during a fight.

"He pulled a knife on us during the fight. I stabbed him with a metal pike in his chest. I did not want to kill him," AO told prosecutors.

The murder took place in the Naif district of Diera. A police officer told prosecutors a bystander who heard screams and saw the two men pull the victim into a building reported the attack.

AO and AM said they went to see Mr Sulaiman at a woman's flat in Naif. The three argued and were kicked out by the flat owner, and at that point, a fight broke out.

Both will be deported after serving their jail terms.

salamir@thenational.ae