Abdulrahman Al-Ali Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Four Africans were given seven-year jail term each and 25,000 lashes for carrying out robberies at knifepoint. The Summary Court in Jeddah found the four guilty of breaking into the homes in the expatriate-dominated areas and threatening the residents with knives to carry out robberies. Reports on several robbery cases received at police stations had similar descriptions of the crime that led the police to attribute all the robberies to a particular gang operating in the city. The gangsters were arrested while trying to sell the stolen goods, the court was told. A police team in plainclothes was stationed at Tent Souk (Souk Al-Khaimah) in southern Jeddah where a suspect appeared to sell some of the stolen stuff. Later it was found out that the bag the suspect was carrying contained jewelry worth about SR60,000. He was immediately taken into custody and upon interrogation led the police to the other three members of the gang.
All four admitted to their crimes during court proceedings. On the basis of material evidence and their own own confessions, the court pronounced its verdict at the weekend.
