A suspect in an aggravated theft case asked judges to bring a security guard to court to prove the accused was not among the people who assaulted him.
The defendant is one of three Bahraini ex-convicts standing trial at the High Criminal Court for allegedly stealing gas cylinders from the side of a Juffair building and beating up its security guard because he filmed them in the act.
The trio was charged with theft under threat of violence and assaulting the Bangladeshi guard with a metal pipe in April this year.
“Your Honour, I’d like to inform you that I took no part in assaulting the victim,” the 29-year-old defendant stated in a letter submitted to the court yesterday.
“I had no idea that he was going to be assaulted or whether the assault actually happened in the first place. I just stood outside, as can be seen in security camera footage of the incident.
“I’d also like to point out that I’m not okay with the victim’s assault. Therefore, I ask the honourable judges to bring the guard to court, so he can identify his assailants, to prove my innocence.”
Despite his pleas, the defendant is one of two suspects standing trial as a ‘repeat offender’, having previously been convicted in assault and theft cases which carry harsher penalties in criminal trials.
The 29-year-old living in Hamad Town admitted to the charges in Public Prosecution questioning, and stated that they saw the guard filming them and blamed his accomplice for starting the aggression.
The GDN earlier reported that a CCTV recording showed three individuals stepping out of a white car and stealing gas cylinders, then a man exited the security cabin, after which two of the men entered the room.
Prosecutors said that the defendants were successful in stopping the victim’s resistance against their actions due to force and threats.
“I went out of the security room only to see three individuals trying to remove a gas cylinder belonging to the building I guard,” the 39-year-old Bangladeshi expat earlier testified.
“As soon as they saw me, two of the men came for me, and I ran into the room, but they followed me. The first defendant threatened me with a metal object and told me not to leave the cabin.
“I complied, because I was afraid of what they might do. The men searched the room and stole BD10 along with my mobile phone. They then stole the cylinders and fled.”
In Public Prosecution interviews, all suspects admitted to stealing the gas cylinders, and the second and third defendants claimed that they were following orders from their accomplice.
The 29-year-old admitted to the charges and stated that the 28-year-old first defendant yelled at the guard and followed him into the security room when he noticed him recording them.
“The guard was very afraid and we took his wallet and phone based on what my co-defendant said,” he added.
The third suspect, also aged 28, claimed that the first defendant told him that he had hit the man ‘because he moved a lot and didn’t let him carry out the theft.’
The alleged victim identified some of the defendants when he was shown their photographs.
The gas company that owns the cylinders was listed as one of the victims in the case.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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