A drug addict who lured a friend into an alley before hacking him to death with a sword is to be referred to mental health services, Dubai Criminal Court has heard.
The 23-year-old Emirati told judges he had no recollection of the incident, which happened late at night on January 22 this year.
According to court documents, the unemployed man, who has not been named, called his friend on the phone and asked him to come to a street in Oud Al Muteena in Dubai.
When the victim arrived he was attacked with a sword, with the defendant only running off after being spotted by a passing policeman.
“He parked his bike in the dark and then hid to wait for his friend," a police officer told the hearing. "When the man arrived, he attacked him with a sword."
The trial heard that the defendant was under the influence of crystal meth and other drugs at the time of his arrest. The reason for the murder remains unclear.
An officer on duty at Al Qusais police station, where the defendant was brought in for questioning, said: “He was behaving abnormally and his clothes were stained with blood. I handcuffed him and took him to the crime scene but he wasn't of much help."
Detectives later found the sword hidden in a bush in a nearby street. Forensic experts were able to establish the weapon had both the victim's blood on it and the defendant’s DNA.
