Two men who beheaded a compatriot whose brother killed their brother in Pakistan will spend life in prison.
On December 31, the pair knocked the man off his bicycle with their car and attacked him with axes in The Springs in Dubai.
They repeatedly hit him on the head and neck until his head was severed, an Emirati police officer said.
The victim, his feet still on the pedals of his bike, was found by a jogger.
"I noticed a car speeding off but I didn't have the chance to write down the plate number," the witness, who called police, said.
The police officer, 37, said the men drove to Dragon Mart, where they bought new clothes and threw away their bloodied shirts.
“Then they took a taxi to Ajman, where they met with a friend and asked for his help in hiding them,” he said.
The friend refused but gave them Dh3,000. They then travelled to Al Ain before trying to flee to Oman but were arrested.
During questioning, one defendant allegedly admitted that he was enraged by the victim’s carelessness and decided to kill him, although it is not clear what he meant.
Investigations showed that the victim's family and the family of one of the defendants were in a dispute over a plot of land in Pakistan.
"The victim's brother killed the brother of the defendant in Pakistan, after which the defendant threatened his victim, saying that he would kill him if he ever saw him," the officer said.
In court, the men, both aged 33, denied a charge of premeditated murder but they were convicted and will be deported after serving their prison terms.
The verdict can be appealed within two weeks.