The High Criminal Court has upheld the conviction of a man who broke into a shopping mall’s offices three times in a single day, stealing valuables from employee lockers and assaulting a witness with a pair of metal scissors.
The 24-year-old Bahraini, who was found guilty of robbery in July and sentenced to five years in prison, had lodged an objection against the verdict since it was issued in absentia.
Following the proceedings, the court rejected the objection and reaffirmed the conviction and sentence.
Court records showed that the defendant had previously served a one-year prison term for theft.
Judges heard that during the burglary spree, the defendant stole two scanners, a computer monitor, several screwdrivers, a hammer, a luxury watch, a smartwatch, four flash drives and 26 greeting cards.
Although he was chased from the premises, he returned to the offices later that day and stole a PlayStation 5 and two Nintendo Switch consoles.
The burglary began at around 8am, when the defendant entered the office reception area and rummaged through cabinets behind the front desk. According to the Public Prosecution, he found a key that unlocked other cabinets, and looked inside them all, before taking a key card from the desk.
He then used the key card to gain access to the offices, where he rummaged through their contents and stole a company bank card.
A 29-year-old Indian employee who had come to collect documents spotted the defendant and questioned his presence. The court heard that the defendant responded by attacking him with a pair of scissors, striking him on the ear before fleeing through an emergency exit.
A 23-year-old Bahraini security guard, who had been alerted to the incident, testified that he kept watch for the defendant and eventually located him.
“I ran after the defendant and was filming him,” the guard told the court.
“He went to another building, left the stolen items there, and then came at me with a piece of metal, and so I ran away.
“I was later able to return to the building and recover the stolen items.”
The defendant did not appear to be done, though.
Prosecutors said he returned to the mall and stole gaming consoles from the offices before leaving via a lift carrying several shopping bags.
A mall manager intercepted him at the lift exit, prompting the defendant to drop some of the bags and flee.
The court heard that he again stashed the stolen property in another building and attempted to attack his pursuer with a piece of metal before returning to the offices for a third time to steal more items.
Employees later identified him, enabling authorities to arrest him.
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