Inmates 'assaulted prison guard'

DUBAI // A prison guard sustained a permanent disability during an assault by four inmates, a court heard today.

The Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance heard that the two Omani prisoners HA, 22, and SH, 37, as well as the Emirati inmate AA, 26, and the stateless AK, 44, assaulted the 24-year-old Emirati corporal AN on the morning of June 29 last year.

AN said he was at his desk in the internal security office when the four men approached him.

"They hit me on my face and then started kicking me all over my body," he said. The court heard the men also caused Dh14,800 worth of damage to AN's office. When AN fled to another office, a further two men appeared - another convict, 28-year-old RK, and a visitor identified as SA, 38. These two, both Omanis, were said to have told AN never to return to the prison or they would kill him.

No explanation for the defendants' alleged actions was given in court.

A medical report described AN's injuries as constituting a permanent 15 per cent disability.

AA was the only defendant present in court yesterday. He denied the charges.

The rest of the defendants will be summoned on April 9.

salamir@thenational.ae