JEDDAH – The District Court in Jeddah has sentenced an Arab expatriate to imprisonment, lashes and deportation after he was convicted of a series of handbag muggings in Jeddah's Sharafiya and Ruwais districts. The handbag snatcher was taken to court after he was arrested trying to mug a woman in her 50s at a mall in Ruwais. The mugger noticed the woman walking alone next to the mall at 8 p.m. He moved toward her and within seconds he had snatched her handbag and tried to flee the scene before a passerby apprehended him. An eyewitness told the court he was standing on Madinah Road next to the mall. He heard a shout for help from the victim and saw the defendant running away with a woman's handbag. He chased and caught him. The defendant admitted that he snatched the woman's bag and tried to run away. The judge noted his confession before looking into the defendant's criminal record, which was otherwise clean. After he was convicted the judge sentenced him to six months in jail, 50 lashes to be handed out in installments and deportation once he has served his sentence.
