Dubai Civil Defence officer jailed over death of cyclist Mizna Ali

A speeding Dubai Civil Defence officer who killed a cyclist in a road crash while driving a car with an expired licence has been jailed for six months.

The Emirati, 22, was convicted by Dubai Traffic Court of manslaughter, speeding, failing to pay attention to the road, damaging property, driving a vehicle with an expired licence, making substantial modifications to the vehicle, using tinting above permitted limits on all windows and racing with an unidentified driver.

The fatal incident occurred at 10.35pm on May 23.

The victim was Emirati Mizna Abdullah Ali, a member of Al Wathba cycling team, who was training with teammates in the Meydan area of Dubai when she was struck by the vehicle.

Paramedics tried to save her but she died in hospital.

The convicted man, a second lieutenant, was driving someone else's Nissan Patrol when the crash took place.

He had insisted he was driving within the speed limit and had been taken by surprise when the cyclist appeared fewer than three metres in front of his vehicle.

He was fined Dh12,000 and ordered to pay blood money of Dh200,000 in addition to the jail term.

He will also be banned from driving for three years, starting from the date of his release from prison.

His lawyer, Mohammed Al Mansouri, had claimed that the charges should have been made against the cycling team's supervisor, arguing that he failed to take safety measures by arranging for the cyclists to train in dedicated paths.

The court did not accept that suggestion.

The defendant's lawyer said an appeal against the verdict will be made.

Earlier this year, a fellow cyclist dedicated her prize to Ms Ali.

Mehnaz Amin Kamali won Dubai's 75km amateur cycling race for UAE nationals.

At the awards ceremony, Mizna Ali's team said they had been left devastated by her her death.

“The death of Mizna is a really painful moment for us all,” Sulaiman Al Hammadi, head of the Al Wathba cycling team, told Dubai radio station ARN.

“Tonight, she was supposed to be standing here with her teammates, hoping to achieve one of her most important goals – of winning this race – for which she had been training for a long time."

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