A thug has been found guilty of stealing an iPhone 13 from a traveller who stopped to ask him for directions to the King Fahad Causeway.
The 28-year-old Bahraini has been sentenced to three years in prison at the High Criminal Court on charges of theft and assault.
He was reportedly accompanied by two other yet-unidentified individuals, and together they managed to rob the victim of his mobile, run away and then sell it to a mobile store for BD10.
The court heard that the Gulf national victim had stopped a car that was passing by to ask the driver for directions to the Saudi border.
“The man was in the car with two other individuals and they asked me to follow them,” he told the Public Prosecution.
“While I was following, the driver suddenly halted his vehicle, leading me to stop as well. I was surprised to see the three men step out of their car and approach me.
“They opened my car’s doors – the defendant started beating me, while another person started taking my possessions and documents. I was able to push the defendant off me and get away.”
The victim added that the men still pursued him and stopped again in front of him in an attempt to prevent him from getting away.
However, the manoeuvre led to a collision between the Bahrain-registered car and his vehicle, which led to his attackers fleeing the scene.
Police were able to track the stolen device down after activating its ‘Find My iPhone’ feature.
The owner of a mobile store testified to having received a call from a person who wanted to sell a phone and the caller later arrived with the device.
“I couldn’t unlock the phone so I asked the defendant where it was from. He said it was given to him by a Gulf individual and I agreed to buy it from him.”
The store owner positively identified the defendant after being shown a photograph of him by the police.
According to the prosecution documents, the defendant’s car had evidence of a recent collision with damage to the front of the vehicle including the licence plate, front bumper, grille and engine cover.
An image of the victim’s mobile was also found during a data check on the defendant’s phone.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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