DUBAI // A teenager tried to murder a 15-year-old schoolboy by stabbing him in the abdomen, a court heard today.
AM, a 17-year-old Emirati, stabbed the Sudanese student AA with a knife in a deliberate attempt to kill him, prosecutors told the Dubai Juvenile Court.
They said that he would have succeeded had fellow students not stepped in to help.
The schoolboy told prosecutors that at nearly 10pm on January 19 he and three of his friends passed a group of Emirati teenagers, one of whom initiated a dispute with his friend. He said that his friend tried to walk away but was stopped.
He said that the Emirati youth who had started the dispute then made a telephone call, shortly after which an Infiniti car arrived.
The friend said that AM then stepped out of the car and started arguing with him, before saying he wanted to speak to the boy alone. AM then stabbed the schoolboy and was going to stab him a second time, but stopped with the boy's friends interfered and pulled him away.
The schoolboy's friends MT and MA, both 17-year-olds from Sudan, testified that their friend did not start the dispute.
A forensics expert said the knife penetrated the boy's abdomen and could easily have proved fatal had he not been rushed to hospital immediately.
The 17-year-old has been held at Al Qusais police station since the incident took place at an undisclosed location. He failed to show in court.
The court scheduled the next hearing for May 22.
salamir@thenational.ae
