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A quick cutting jobless barber allegedly pulled a knife on his sweetheart and made off with her smartphone before pawning it for cash.
The High Criminal Court heard the 34-year-old left his mark by pricking her skin with the blade but he denied charges of robbery and unlocking her iPhone 16 Pro Max without permission.
The court heard that the 30-year-old Bahraini dental assistant loaned the Egyptian hair cutter BD750 but he refused to return the money, so she recorded him admitting to borrowing the amount, then threatened to report him.
He asked her to meet, then allegedly snatched her phone to destroy the evidence before running away with it, the court was told.
However, he claims that she gave him the device of her own freewill, stating that ‘she’s a very kind girl who wanted to help me out because I’m unemployed’.
The incident happened in December, as the two had met to talk things out and discuss the repayment of the debt.
“The two first got to know each other in November on TikTok, became friends and would go out together,” the court heard. “She lent him BD750 and he kept stalling over the repayment.
“When he found out that she recorded him admitting to having borrowed the amount, he asked her to delete the audio file, but she later recovered it.
“He later stalled again, so she threatened to lodge a report against him to the authorities, using the voice recording as evidence.
“He told her there was no need to resort to that measure and asked her to meet him. They met in a sandy lot in the Juffair area.
“That was when he stole her iPhone 16 Pro Max, which she had placed in the car door of the driver’s seat, then he slapped her twice across her face,” the prosecution alleged.
“He demanded the PIN but she refused to give it up, so he took out a foldable knife from his pocket, pressed the blade to her thigh, and she was forced to tell him the code. He searched her phone then ran away with it, then sold it.”
In Public Prosecution interviews, the Egyptian defendant and Bahraini alleged victim voiced two different accounts of what had happened.
Although she denied that they were in a relationship, stating ‘it had not developed into that yet’, the Egyptian claimed in his testimony that ‘a relationship of love and friendship’ tied him to her.
The woman told prosecutors that he would ask her for money every now and then, telling her that he was fired from his job and evicted from his Juffair apartment.
He claimed that she knew he was going through a ‘rough time’ so she ‘voluntarily’ gave him her pink iPhone to sell, after removing her iCloud account from it and erasing her data.
They met regularly, the court heard, and would go on walks together. “She would give me presents and money to help me out,” he claimed. “It was a normal meet-up, after her shift ended at 5pm. I told her about my circumstances, seeing I recently lost my job.
“She said: “Because I’m an honourable lady, I’m giving you my phone to pay rent with.”
The expatriate, who immigrated to Bahrain three years ago, claimed that during that fateful meeting, the two discussed exclusivity, which was an issue in their relationship.
“She saw that I was talking to other girls, felt jealous and said she wanted to break up. I also found a man on her phone, and we agreed that I’ll stop talking to the girls and she’ll stop talking to him.
“She told me to sell her phone, ‘then we’ll work out the girl situation’. But later, she blocked me and we lost touch.”
He claimed that she reported him because of her ‘depression and jealously, but admitted that she was a ‘very kind girl and I’ve only witnessed good from her’.
The trial continues.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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