Over the past week, a collection of disturbing video clips showed a high-powered SUV being driven recklessly in the City Walk area of Dubai. The driver and his passengers whooped it up as he spun doughnuts on a crowded evening street as rain fell. The streets were full of families out enjoying themselves, taking in the cool weather, taking in the amenities of the new development.
The driver acted like a clown, spinning his SUV as his passengers cheered him, and the slightest miscalculation could have resulted in his vehicle slamming into those who watched on in horror, or even those irresponsible youths who also cheered him on. It was stupid, and clearly an incident of dangerous driving at its most puerile.
But guess who’s laughing now? Thanks to swift justice and the intervention of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the three clowns who were in the car have had to clean up the streets around City Walk as part of their punishment. This humiliation and example of swift and effective justice is well-deserved, and they will face further sanctions for their recklessness.
Community service is often far more effective in dealing with miscreants who fail to understand that their anti-social behaviour cannot be tolerated nor condoned in any way, shape or fashion. Making these idiots work, cleaning the streets or painting over graffiti, is a perfect way to teach them a lesson. It’s an example that the courts should use more often.
Imposing such sentences also allows for the courts to act swiftly, facilitating a smoother and more effective form of justice. After all, justice delayed is justice denied.
