An unruly passenger at Dubai International Airport assaulted a police officer by hitting him with a chair before sitting on his chest and repeatedly punching him before another officer rushed in and broke up the assault.

The suspect pleaded guilty when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance to the charge of physically assaulting the officer on duty and that he was sorry for the altercation.

“I’m sorry for what I have done and I want to apologise to the man,” said the accused.

The 26-year-old Uzbek passenger arrived in the transit area in Terminal 1 on May 31 this year en route from Egypt and was waiting to catch his flight to his home country after 14 hours when officers stopped him and asked him to proceed to the interrogation room for questioning.

A 24-year-old Emirati police officer testified that he was ordered to stop the passenger and keep him under custody until other officers came for questioning.

The passenger was inside the interrogation room when the police officer received a call from his director to ask the suspect some questions.

“The suspect told me he doesn’t have a passport but has a travel document. After some questions, he went to the door and locked it before throwing a chair on me and then punched me in the face and knocked me down and kept assaulting me,” the Emirati officer said, according to official records.

Another officer, who was outside, helped his colleague and stopped the suspect’s attack, who returned to his chair leaving the officer with a broken and bloody nose, and a 1.5cm cut above his left eyebrow.

The passenger said he got angry after the officer asked him a number of questions and that he was nervous after being deported from Egypt where he had spent 10 years with his family.

“I was detained because I wasn’t carrying a passport but I did have a travel document with a ticket to Uzbekistan because I lost my passport and stayed illegally in Egypt. I was thinking of my family in Egypt and the unknown future for me in my country as I don’t know anyone in Uzbekistan since I had been in Egypt for a long time. Then I was angry and assaulted the officer,” the passenger said.

He claimed that he hurt his hand while assaulting the officer.

A verdict will be issued later this month.

Source: gulfnews.com