Hotel cleared of responsibility for murder at bar

A court of cassation has absolved an Abu Dhabi hotel of any responsibility for a murder committed inside one of its bars by rejecting demands by the victim’s relatives for a Dh10 million compensation, newspapers reported on Tuesday.

Relatives of the victim who was shot to death by another man had sought damages on the grounds the hotel failed to prevent the murder.

A court had earlier ordered the hotel to pay Dh50,000 damages, prompting both parties to appeal. A court of appeals annulled the verdict and cleared the hotel of any responsibility, a sentence that was upheld by the court of cassation.

The court found that the hotel had done its best to prevent the crime when its security man tried to stop the armed assailant, who threatened to shoot the hotel worker.

Newspapers did not identify the hotel, the victim and the assailant but said the killer was later sentenced to death and executed by a firing squad.