Dubai: An Egyptian engineer resisted arrest and damaged property, as he tried to escape from a detention centre at Al Muraqqabat police station, a Dubai Court of First Instance heard on Monday morning.
The 27-year-old defendant had been arrested over robbery cases and was being held in a small detention centre at Criminal Investigation Section in the police station.
On May 31, this year, a Yemeni policeman was on duty in the section while the defendant was inside the detention cell.
“It was 5.30am and I was working on the computer in front of the cell. The defendant was under custody for robbery cases. I went out of the room for half an hour when I heard a noise coming from the room. I checked the room and saw the defendant outside the cell,” the 52-year-old policeman said in official records.
The defendant climbed up the cell, pushed his body through a gap between the bars and ceiling, then fell to the floor.
“I chased him outside the room and saw him trying to open the doors in front of him but they were all locked. He returned to the room, climbed the metal bars and returned to his cell.”
Other policemen came to back up the officer and tied the inmate’s hands.
“He damaged the ceiling as he pushed his huge body to the false ceiling to jump outside the cell. It was a small gap between the ceiling and bars but he damaged the ceiling,” the policeman added.
Dubai Public Prosecution said the cost of repairing the ceiling was Dh200.
The defendant denied resisting arrest and damaging properties.
A verdict will be issued later this month.