Can a lawyer be an accused? Yes, your honour

In a piquant situation, a lawyer, who was defending a case in Dubai Misdemeanour Court, had to stand as an accused in another case.
 
And, presiding judge Jamal Al Jubaili did not recongnise the lawyer as one of the accused while the later was standing in front of the bench.
 
The court’s secretary called up the names of the two accused involved in the case where a woman died crushed under a kitchen’s asbestos ceiling and water tank.
 
At the call-up, MHM, Pakistani, 47, driver, who was the tenant of the house, stepped in from the detainees room in the court.
 
The judge waited for the second accused to step out too. After searching in the court hall, the judge announced that the second accused was not present, and the secretary was about to enter it in the case file.
 
TMH, Emirati, lawyer who was standing in front of the jury bench, then said: “Your honour, I am the second accused in the case. I am the landlord of the house.”
 
And, the hearing in the case, in which both the tenant and the landlord were accused of mistakenly causing the death of a person, resumed.
 
TMH told the court: “The tenant had sub-let the upper floor and did not ask for or inform me that the house needs maintenance. However, I used offered regular maintenance for the house like painting etc, but I did not know that it was in a poor condition to the extent that the ceiling was in danger of collapsing.”
 
The tenant, MHM, who is facing an accusation related to violating the country’s residency law in a separate case, denied the responsibility for the woman’s death.
 
The case was initiated following the woman’s death due to serious injuries she sustained when the ceiling collapsed and the water tank fell on her while she was in the kitchen on February 2 at Al Muteena area behind Marco Polo Hotel.
 
MHM testified before the prosecution that he had taken the ground floor of the two-storey house on rent three years before the accident. And another family was occupying the upper floor.
 
Six months later, the house was sold to TMH, Emirati, (the lawyer) and MHM took the house on rent from TMH and a fresh lease contract – still valid -- was signed.
 
On January 31, the tenant of the upper floor asked MHM to lease out the floor on his behalf as he was planning to travel on a three-month vacation.
 
And, on the same day a Bengali came with his wife and rented the floor for Dh2,500 for three months, MHM testified.
 
On February 2, while MHM was at home, he heard the sound of a crash from the upper floor and then water dripped into his house.
 
He rushed up and saw the collapsed water tank and the asbestos ceiling in the kitchen. He also heard the voice of a woman crying.
 
She was trapped between the tank and the kitchen table covered with broken asbestos bars. As he could not pull her out, he called the emergency number.
 
TMH, the landlord, testified before the prosecution that in May 2008, he had bought two adjacent houses from two different owners without checking their condition from inside.
 
“The tenants did not ask for a special maintenance so I did not offer.”
 
The court adjourned the case for next month.