Carjacker loses appeal

The First High Criminal Court of Appeal recently upheld a six years imprisonment sentence issued last year against a Bahraini national for stealing a car, ramming into five cars and injuring two policemen.

The Public Prosecution charged the 39-year-old on May 21 last year of assaulting public security personnel, carjacking and damaging five vehicles, including a police patrol vehicle.

The case originated back in May 2019 when the defendant stole a car from Souq Waqf area in Hamad Town in broad daylight, while the owner of the car was inside one of the shops and left his car running for less than 10 minutes.  

After reporting the case to the police, search and investigation led to the vehicle on the next day.

When a police patrol approached the defendant who was inside the stolen vehicle, he drove off and a car chase began, according to Prosecutors. 

Driving on Khalifa Bin Salman Highway towards the Capital, the only stop he faced was the traffic signals near Bahrain Financial Harbour junction.

There, the two policemen blocked his way with the police patrol vehicle and asked the defendant to get out of the car.

However, the defendant attempted to escape again, hitting the patrol vehicle, four other cars and both policemen who were on foot.

The defendant was eventually controlled, handcuffed and taken to the police station.

In the investigation, he claimed that he was under the influence of drugs prescribed to him by doctors at the Psychiatry Hospital, and told the policemen that he wasn’t aware of his actions and doesn’t remember anything.

It was uncovered when the defendant’s criminal record was reviewed that there were 35 complaints lodged against him to the police earlier.

These complaints included several assault cases, some against his own father, theft and carjacking cases.

The court sentenced him last year to six years imprisonment and ordered him to pay for the damages he caused to the five vehicles he rammed into.