A security guard, accused of stealing car engines from a technical secondary school, has claimed that he thought he was ‘clearing the scrap out’ when he surreptitiously took car components from campus.
The court heard that there may have been a misunderstanding over instructions, there were others in the vicinity during shift working hours and the boot of his own car was too small to transport some of the larger items away.
“There’s no way I’d be able to steal 11 engines and 11 gears all by myself,” the 55-year-old defendant told High Criminal Court judges yesterday.
Over the summer holiday, the Bahraini allegedly stole a total of 39 car parts worth BD1,735 used for teaching students in the automotive track, while on night shift guarding the school in Zinj.
He allegedly snuck the components out of campus bit-by-bit over the course of 11 days, including 11 car engines, four manual transmission motors, four engine head gaskets, 12 rear axles and eight differential gears.
He earlier denied charges of theft and of exploiting his duty to guard the school and its property, despite previously admitting to them in prosecution questioning, the court heard.
The suspect’s lawyer submitted a note to the court, claiming that the man was too old to have carried all this equipment and that it was ‘impossible’ and ‘defies logic’ that he could fit a whole engine in his car’s boot.
“The Public Prosecution has based its accusations on the defendant’s confession that he stole the car parts and sold them to a Bangladeshi man running a scrap shop in Salmabad,” the lawyer added.
“However, when the Bangladeshi was asked about the incident, he claimed that he had ‘never encountered the defendant nor bought any mechanical equipment from him’.”
The lawyer also added that his client was not the only employee working at the school during the summer holidays and that he was just one of multiple guards taking shifts to watch the school.
“He may have been tasked with removing the engines,” the lawyer further claimed. “Since they’re used for teaching, the engines could be old and they have wanted to get rid of them so they could be replaced.”
Yesterday, a Public Prosecution representative urged judges to give the Bahraini security guard the maximum possible sentence.
The GDN earlier reported that, contrary to the lawyer’s claims, the equipment was brand-new and had just been bought for the new school year.
“At the end of every academic year, all the equipment used for teaching is readied for the next year,” a staff member from the technical school’s automotive department testified.
“When the semester ended, all the engines belonging to the department were arranged, be it inside the workshops or in the outer courtyard belonging to the automotive track.
“Last time I saw them was on June 30, which was the last day of work for faculty and administrative staff.
“When we returned for the new school year, we searched everywhere in the department and didn’t find the equipment, which was worth between BD1,500 and BD2,000.”
Police conducted an investigation at the school, and found no damage or signs of breaking-and-entering upon inspecting the campus’s metal fence.
Fingers were pointed to the defendant by some of the staff, and he was summoned by the school’s administration, but did not appear.
Security camera footage allegedly showed the man taking the equipment to his car, and in one of the clips appeared to be in a state of exertion, sweating as he was carrying a heavy engine to his vehicle.
According to the lead investigator, the defendant is wanted by several police stations on suspicion of various drug charges.
Technical secondary schools in Bahrain offer vocational and industrial training for boys only, and students can choose from several tracks beside automotive mechanics.
Students can choose to specialise in electronics, welding and fabrication, air conditioning and cooling, diesel engines, electric power distribution, appliances maintenance, telecommunication, machining or instrumentation.
The court set February 11 as the date a verdict will be announced in the case.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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