DUBAI // Two prisoners who used bed sheets to abseil from the roof of a police station during an escape bid were yesterday sentenced to a further three years in prison.
ES, 46, an Iranian, and JQ, 29, an Iraqi, were also ordered by the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance to repay the Dh2,000 worth of damage they caused.
MA, 58, a Yemeni policeman, was cleared of negligence.
At about 6pm on December 18 last year, ES and JQ were taken to make their daily telephone calls at Al Muraqqabat police station.
Prosecutors said MA did not see the men climb the stairs leading to the roof, where they broke open a door using a metal bar taken from a bed in their cell. They waited there until darkness fell six hours later. They then ripped up the bed sheets, which had been hidden under their clothes, and tied the pieces together using electrical wires found on the roof, before using these to lower themselves to the ground.
The prisoners then hid in an abandoned house behind Al Hamriyah post office. Police found and arrested them 10 days later. Despite a struggle, in which officers fired weapons, there were no injuries.
The men had Dh1,400 and said they had stolen it from restaurants and stores, according to prosecutors. The pair will be deported after serving their jail terms.
