8 sentenced to death for armed robberies

Eight men have been sentenced to death in Sharjah on Thursday for carrying out a string of armed robberies at money exchanges and cash machines in the emirate last year.

A ninth man was sentenced to six months followed by deportation for possession of stolen money.

 

The convicts were of a nine-member gang of Nigerians who entered establishments by force and slashed staff and members of the public with bladed weapons in 2018. The gang had committed a series of robberies across the emirate.

The Criminal Court of Sharjah awarded death sentence to eight men for armed robbery at a money exchange center in Sharjah.

The court accused the African nationals of armed robbery, public assault and seizing money by force, Emarat Al Youm reported.

Another defendant was also sentenced in the same case with six months in prison and deportation for possession of stolen money.

The accused denied the charges against him and said that one of the accusers' brother asked him to transfer Dh60,000 to his overseas account.

It was reported that some of the accusers confessed to their crime while some denied the charges against them.

According to the police's investigation, they checked the surveillance cameras and found fingerprints to identify the perpetrators. They were caught and admitted to their crime to the police.

One of the defendants returned part of the stolen money.