A jobless man had allegedly threatened employees of an exchange house with a home-made fake bomb while trying to steal Dh5,500, a court heard.
The 38-year-old British man allegedly wrapped a tissue box with a plastic tape to make it look like a bomb and then he threatened to blow it up in the exchange house if its Filipina manager did not give him Dh5,500 in November, reported Gulf News.
The Briton had walked into the exchange house and placed a piece of paper on which Dh5,500 was written on the counter, according to records. The Filipina manager stalled him for a while as she pressed the alarm system that is connected with Dubai Police’s operation room.
The man had already gone by the time the police arrived at the exchange house in Tecom area. The primary interrogations led to the arrest of the 38-year-old, the report said.
Prosecutors accused the Briton of attempting to rob the exchange house and using a fake bomb to threaten the Filipina.
The suspect pleaded not guilty when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Wednesday.
“I did not do that … No!” he reportedly told presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi.
According to the accusation sheet, prosecutors said the defendant threatened to blow up the money exchange house using what he claimed to be a bomb and threatened the manager as he attempted to rob the place.
The Filipina reportedly told prosecutors that the Briton put the piece of paper on the counter first before he took out what he claimed to be a bomb.
“I pretended to be asking him about the numbers on the paper … I was actually stalling to press the alarm system and have the police come to the shop. After he took out that thing he claimed to be a bomb, I asked him what that was and he replied ‘it’s a bomb’. He threatened to use it if I didn’t give him the money. When I told him that he couldn’t do such a thing, he grabbed the purported bomb and walked away. Then the police came,” the Filipina reportedly testified to prosecutors.
A police lieutenant told prosecutors that the Filipina told them the fake bomb was wrapped with a black tape. “She told us that the Briton left the place without taking any cash,” he was quoted as telling prosecutors.
Gulf News quoted the defendant as admitting to prosecutors that he was going through a dire financial situation when he decided to fake a bomb, threaten the exchange house staff and try to steal some cash.
A ruling in the case is expected later this month, the report said.
