Dubai: Three men have been jailed for life for killing two guards stationed at a company in Dubai Investment Park and stealing Dh34,000 worth of diesel.

The two drivers and a worker planned the crime with an Egyptian worker at the company they targeted before premeditatedly murdering the Pakistani watchmen on duty and making off with the stolen diesel in March 2010.

The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the Pakistani trio, aged between 30 and 40, of intentionally killing the watchmen and stealing the diesel.

Presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi said the three accused will be deported following the completion of their jail terms.

According to records, the Egyptian worker, who fled the country on the day of the crime, was apprehended and tried in Egypt.

The three men had pleaded not guilty and claimed in court that it was the Egyptian worker who stabbed the guards to death before they stole the diesel and smuggled it out of the company’s premises.

Records said the Egyptian and the Pakistanis brought came prepared with a knife, masks and a tanker, in which they smuggled the stolen diesel out of the company after they had murdered the two watchmen.

A police lieutenant testified that they were informed about a murder that had taken place at 6pm.

“We rushed to the company’s premises where one of the workers guided us to the spot where a watchman had been stabbed and killed. Ten minutes later we found the second watchman’s body, also stabbed and left inside a garbage container that was 300 metres away from the first corpse. Primary interrogations revealed that the Egyptian defendant had cancelled his contract with the company and left the UAE on the day of the murders. He became the primary suspect in the case. It was also revealed that the trio had been involved in stealing the diesel. We apprehended them in their house in Warsan Area at 5am.

“During questioning, the three defendants said they had agreed with the Egyptian to steal the diesel from his workplace. On the day of the crime, the trio said they drove two diesel tankers to the company’s location at Dubai Investment Park. The Egyptian trespassed into the company to open the door, claimed the trio. An hour later, they alleged, the Egyptian opened the door and walked out, they said he seemed perplexed. On-site inspection revealed that the assailants took the watchmen by surprise and attacked them with a sharp tool,” said the lieutenant.

A police captain testified that the trio had sold around 1,744 gallons of stolen diesel for Dh14,000 in Al Awir. “The Egyptian defendant fled the country a few hours after the incident. The roommate of the absconder said the latter paid him an old debt and left the country,” the captain testified.

The ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.