Dubai: Dubai prosecutors are seeking a stiffer punishment against the drink-driver who ran over former Arab triathlon champion, Roy Nasr, and killed him last month.
On September 30, the Dubai Traffic Misdemeanour Court jailed the 24-year-old Filipino employee, W.J., for one month and ordered him to pay Dh200,000 in blood money to Nasr’s family after he was pronounced guilty.
“After the Appeal Prosecution Section went through the primary ruling and its reasoning, prosecutors have decided to appeal the punishment. Prosecutors will be seeking a harsher punishment for the defendant before the Appeal Court. Appealing verdicts is an ordinary process that often happens when the Appeal Prosecution revises primary rulings and appeals them seeking stiffened punishments. The defendant has not appealed the judgement yet,” a senior prosecutor told Gulf News on Monday.
W.J.’s driving licence was also suspended for three months after he pleaded guilty and conveyed his apologies to the family of the 50-year-old Lebanese.
Charges
Traffic prosecutors charged W.J. with drinking alcohol and driving under the influence of alcohol before he ran over a group of three cyclists, including Nasr, on a Friday near the Safa Park interchange.
The Filipino was charged with causing the accidental death of Nasr and causing moderate injuries to his fellow cyclists, Briton S.Z. and American A.T.
W.J. was also accused of wrecking a car and the bicycles.
Records said Nasr and his cycling friends, S.Z. and A.T., were knocked down from the back by W.J., who suddenly swerved as they pedalled towards Meydan.
Police arrested the driver immediately after the accident that occurred around 5.30am near Safa Park while the cyclists were crossing Shaikh Zayed Road.
A date for the hearing before the Appeal Court is to be scheduled soon.
Nasr was a former Arab triathlon champion and finished third at the 2011 World Triathlon Championships in Beijing. He co-founded TriDubai.
