Emirati athlete jailed for fatal assault in cafe

An Emirati jet-ski competition champ was sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday for allegedly punching a man in the face and head several times and unintentionally causing his death.
The 22-year-old athlete (a student) has been on trial on a fatal assault charge.
The Court of First Instance ordered that the civil case be referred to the competent civil court.
The student was with a woman in a cafe at a hotel in Al Suffouh on August 9, last year, and is believed to have lost his cool when he spotted the victim taking pictures.
According to prosecution records, the student stood up from his table and went to the table of the victim. He asked him why he was taking pictures before he initiated the assault on the victim by punching him on the head and face.
An Indian waiter, 23, said in the investigation that the defendant called him and told him to tell the victim, who was then sitting with three other men and taking pictures of each other, to stop clicking pictures.
"As I was conveying his message to them they asked why he (the student) was upset about it and that he had nothing to be upset about as they were only taking each other's picture."
At that moment the student came and started shouting at the victim about the same matter. "He then punched him twice on the head. The victim then leant back on the sofa and passed out. I tried to wake him up and pour water on him and wipe his face with wet tissues in vain," the waiter testified.
The defendant tried to leave the restaurant but was stopped by the Egyptian manager.
The waiter added that the victim's table was about 10 to 15 meters away from the defendant's.
He also said that the victim did not punch the student back. "He lost consciousness after he was punched. The victim's friends did not also hit the student. They told us to call the police".
The victim was still having some pulse when he was taken to hospital where he died two days later, according to the 39-year-old restaurant's manager.
The incident was reported to Al Barsha police station.
"I did not see the victim clicking pictures of the defendant and his companion. He was a good person. He did not fall while being taken on the stretcher to hospital," the manager told the prosecutor.
A forensic expert said that the victim died due to a severe brain bleeding and a blunt force trauma.
The ruling may be appealed.
mary@khaleejtimes.com 

• Dubai