A gang of five beat to death a man using knives, swords and sticks in what is believed to be a planned horrendous attack over old grudges between the victim and one of them.
The Five Emiratis of ages ranging between 20 and 35, including two brothers, also threw acid on the victim and his three friends, also all Emiratis, in the confrontation that took place after midnight on March 16 last year.
It is believed the main accused, K.A., was after someone else and had all the sharp weapons in place for the planned attack. K.A., who was then high on drugs, mistook the victim for another and attacked him following an altercation.
They all denied in the Court of First Instance charges of premeditated murder and planning and executing a gangsters-style attack with the use of sharp weapons and other harmful material. The attack happened in the street outside the villa of K.A. in Al Warqa.
It is understood from the case documents that the victim's friend was the one who brought him there that night. K.A. was then mad over some old grudges. The victim told him that he was mistaken and that he was not the person he was looking for.
An Emirati, who lives in the same neighborhood as the victim, said he heard the latter say that he had old grudges with K.A., shortly before the incident.
"K.A. approached the victim's car and he wanted to have a fight with him. We all stepped off the car".
We managed to keep them away from each other. K.A.'s friends also pulled him towards his house.
However, the defendants came shortly later and K.A. seemed as if he was intoxicated with liquor or drugs.
"K.A. was hallucinating a lot. He then brandished a medium -size knife and threatened the victim to leave the place".
The witness added that he suffered burns in several parts of his body and he is currently undergoing plastic surgeries at hospital.
The victim's compatriot friend, a military man, said that he did not ask the victim to come to him that night. He claimed the victim came on his own to see him while he was outside K.A.'s villa.
He said that even as he was carrying the badly injured victim to his car to take him to hospital K.A. punched the victim on the head.
A police captain said the police patrol cars chased three of the accused all the way to the Industrial area in Sharjah and caught them. Another defendant was apprehended in his home in Hor-Al-Anz, and one in a hospital in Al Ain following an attempted suicide.
The captain quoted K.A. as claiming that he beat the victim up by kicking and punching over old grudges. He denied having used any sharp weapons or other material.
The next hearing has been set for April 27.
By Marie Nammour
