An offender from the United Arab States, sentenced by a Shari'ah judge to eight months in prison, has been offered a peculiar alternative – digging tombs.

vThe offender also has a chance of early release – every ten tombs dug at the city cemetery of the capital Abu-Dhabi will reduce his term by one month.

The judge has ruled that the defendant should dig one tomb, 120 centimetres deep, per day under the supervision of the religious police.

The defendant, who went on trial for firing at his uncle, did not accept the ruling and filed an appeal.

The local media have greeted the judge’s decision as ‘an exemplary edification’, saying that such measures would allow prisons to discharge.