Officers praise bystander for heroics against gang

Seven perpetrators have been convicted of attempted armed robbery.

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DUBAI // Police have praised a bystander who attacked a gang of seven men assaulting two shop couriers with pepper spray to try to steal Dh386,000.

The Jordanian man helped to scatter the seven labourers in the Dubai fruits and vegetables market, and chased down and held one until officers arrived.

The seven men, aged between 22 and 27, all Pakistani, were yesterday each sentenced in the Dubai Court of First Instance to three years in jail.

The two workers they attacked were carrying the takings from their shop to the bank in September.

One of the couriers, a Bangladeshi man, 28, said: "They surrounded us and threw pepper spray on us to snatch the money. I started yelling for help, and the attackers were scared and escaped when they saw people around them."

A police officer patrolling near by rushed to the scene after his station received a call about the robbery.

"I saw the Jordanian man holding down one of the thieves, who confessed to the robbery," the officer said.

"He told us where we could find the others, who were also labourers in the market."

The Jordanian man's identity was kept secret for his protection.

The court ordered the seven men to be deported after serving their sentences.