UAE court sentences waiter to 1 year jail for setting fire to Pinay’s room – report

A United Arab Emirates court on Sunday sentenced a waiter to one year in jail for setting his Filipina ex-girlfriend's shoe and room on fire last October.

The Indian waiter, 26, admitted he was drunk at the time he went to the room of the Filipina, 34, at a hotel and started the fire, after they broke up.
 
Sunday’s ruling is subject to appeal within 15 days.
 
In its decision, the Dubai Court of First Instance found the Indian guilty of deliberately setting fire to the waitress’ belongings, endangering the life of another Filipina who was sleeping in the room, wrecking private belongings worth Dh200, and damaging to hotel properties worth Dh2,100 and consuming liquor, Gulf News reported.
 
But presiding judge Mohammad Jamal also acquitted the Indian on charges he secretly entering a women-only place, or the hotel's female staff residence.
 
Court records showed the Indian waiter and the Filipina receptionist were co-workers at the hotel at Jumeirah Palm, the same report said.
 
According to the waiter, he was "too drunk and not aware of what I did," and insisted his deeds were unintentional.
 
"(B)ut I don’t even remember starting a fire. I wrecked the claimant’s belongings, but I have already paid for the damages. I went there to see my ex-girlfriend,” the waiter was quoted as saying in the Gulf News report.
 
For her part, the Filipina receptionist said the residence’s supervisor informed her by phone that her room had been set on fire.
 
“I discovered that the fire had been put out. The defendant had set my shoe and bed on fire… the fire spread to the bed, the walls and the curtains. My colleague [the waitress] was sleeping but she woke up once the fire started,” she said.
 
Meanwhile, the waitress said she opened her eyes when the fire alarm rang. “When I saw my roommate’s bed on fire, I rushed out of the room because it was full of smoke. I was scared of getting burnt,” she said.
 
An Egyptian security supervisor said the Indian told him that he had started the fire when he was very drunk.
 
On the other hand, the waiter admitted to prosecutors that he went drinking with one of his friends.
 
He said they consumed alcohol then he returned to his residence provided by the hotel.
 
"I went to my ex-girlfriend’s room and put her shoe on the bed. Then I used my lighter to set it on fire,” he was quoted as saying. — Joel Locsin/RSJ, GMA News

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