A man who burgled a house in Bukuwara and assaulted an officer on duty as he was attempting to flee has been sentenced to one year in prison by the High Criminal Court.
The 38-year-old Bahraini defendant reportedly fell into the thorny bushes of the house, and then resorted to violence against an officer and disrespected two policemen by calling them ‘pigs’.
According to the police witnesses, the man from East Riffa was supposedly caught red-handed outside the house that he attempted to burgle.
During a hearing on June 22, one of the two officers at the scene testified that he was on patrol with his partner when they received a dispatch order from the police command centre at about 2am regarding a reported home burglary.
When they arrived at the scene, they saw the homeowner who made the report, and soon spotted the defendant climbing the house’s fence, trying to escape with the stolen goods.
One of the officers tried to catch him, but the suspect resisted, and pushed him away. During the struggle, they both fell into the thorny trees outside the house and sustained scratches.
According to the officer’s testimony, both men got up, and the police officer grabbed the suspect again.
The man retaliated and punched the officer three times in the chest as he screamed: “I will show you, you pigs!”
However, despite him struggling and scuffling, the accused was eventually subdued and apprehended, the court heard.
This account was corroborated by the policeman who was reportedly injured during the scrap in the sharp thorns.
Following investigations, he was then referred for trial at the High Criminal Court, where he denied all charges against him, pleading not guilty, and giving a different story to the Public Prosecution.
He claimed that on the day of the incident, he was on his bike at around 1.30am looking for scrap and discarded metal that he could collect and sell, when the two officers approached him and accused him of stealing from the house.
He added that he was ‘just minding his own business the whole time’ when the officers apprehended and arrested him.
Additionally, he denied charges of assaulting a public security official while on duty and causing him mild injuries.
He also denied the charge of publicly insulting two policemen in a way that harmed their reputation and social standing, making claims against them that ‘had no basis in reality’.
A medical report noted that the officer’s scratches appeared to corroborate with the witness statement to when the alleged crime was committed.
Prosecutors had asked judges to penalise the suspected burglar to the fullest extent of the law.
nader@gdnmedia.bh
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