Man who broke arresting policeman’s ankle has jail sentence doubled

Nigerian alcohol bootlegger appealed against his six-month sentence but it backfired when Dubai Court of Appeal doubled it to one year.

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A jobless Nigerian bootlegger who attacked an on-duty police officer and caused him a permanent disability has had his sentence doubled.

Dubai Criminal Court sentenced the 37-year-old defendant to six months in jail, which he appealed but that backfired when the appeals court doubled it to a year.

The criminal court was told that on August 18 last year, Naif police station was tipped off about the man’s bootlegging activities from men in his community.

When he was arrested, he had 20 bottles of alcohol to sell.

“I was assigned along with other officers to raid the place where we were told the man had been selling liquor to others,” said the Emirati victim, 21.

He added that, as he and fellow officers arrived, the defendant was seen sitting behind a number of boxes filled with alcohol, which he sold to passers-by.

“When we walked towards him, another Nigerian man screamed to alert him but I caught him, he resisted me, punched me in the stomach then kicked me so hard and threw me to the floor and sat on top of me, breaking my arm and leg,” said the officer.

Despite his injuries, he said he kept hanging on to the defendant until his colleagues restrained him and took him into custody.

The Nigerian who yelled to alert the bootlegger was also apprehended and referred to the misdemeanours court on charges of illegal possession of alcohol.

An ambulance took the officer to hospital, where he received treatment and was later told that his left ankle had lost full mobility, which a report deemed a 15 per cent disability.

The accused was convicted of assaulting the officer and bootlegging and sentenced to six months in jail, followed by deportation.

He appealed and lost as Dubai Court of Appeal increased his sentence to a year in jail, after which he will be deported.