A man jailed for threatening to stab police officers with a screwdriver has lost his appeal.
The appellant and two associates were previously sentenced by the High Criminal Court to one year in prison for assaulting and insulting members of the public security forces.
The 43‑year‑old Bahraini was also convicted of publicly insulting a police officer without justification in a manner that harmed his honour and reputation.
The incident began when a woman called police to report that several individuals were causing trouble at her home, prompting a patrol to be dispatched to the location in Hamad Town.
One of the policemen in the patrol testified that he saw the first defendant, the 43‑year‑old, standing in the street holding a sharp object – a screwdriver – which he was pointing at passers-by.
When officers arrived at the scene, they activated their body cameras and approached the suspect, who appeared unco-operative and intoxicated. As they attempted to deal with him, he began hurling insults at the police.
“He brandished his screwdriver at my partner, threatening him, and my partner pepper-sprayed him to prevent him from drawing another sharp tool from his pocket,” the officer stated. “He said he’d kill him.”
After pepper spray was used, the man’s accomplices sprung into action, intervening in the altercation to fend off the policemen. The three suspects had come to Hamad Town in a vehicle, which was parked near the house.
The co-defendants in the original case, aged 32 and 24, pushed the officers to the ground and started to beat and kick them. They were eventually arrested.
In the meantime, the main defendant threw a stone at the policeman, but his partner took the rocks from his hand and handcuffed him. While being arrested, the 43-year-old reportedly spat on the officer’s face.
According to police testimony, the suspect warned officers that he would ‘poke them full of holes’, adding that he was not afraid of them. In January, the three men were sentenced to a year in jail each. Only the older and younger men came to the Supreme Criminal Appeals Court to lodge an appeal against the verdict.
Judges reduced the 24-year-old’s jail term to six months, but upheld the middle-aged man’s penalty.
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