Brit sentenced for touching man's hip in Dubai has charges dropped
Dubai's ruler has pardoned a British man a day after he was sentenced to three months in prison for touching a man on the hip while on a night out in Dubai.
Jamie Harron, 27, an electrician from Stirling, was on a two-day stopover in the United Arab Emirates when he brushed past Jordanian businessman Emad Tabaz while at the Rock Bottom bar and touched his hip.
Harron, who was arrested in July, says he was simply trying to avoid spilling drinks when the incident happened.
"By special order of the Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Jamie Harron has been freed. The cases against him have been dismissed, and the sentence imposed by the court yesterday has been nullified," said Detained in Dubai, a group that assists foreigners facing legal problems in the emirate.
The Scot had his passport returned at the police station after having it confiscated, and is now free to leave the country.
Harron had been released on bail while his lawyers sought an appeal against the public indecency charge.
Tabaz had dropped the claims, but the prosecution still went ahead.
A previous statement by Detained in Dubai said his lawyers would appeal for him and seek a civil suit against his accusers.
“Today Jamie Harron was sentenced to three months imprisonment for accidentally brushing the hip of an Arab customer at the Rock Bottom bar in Dubai,” a statement from the group reads.
“Key witnesses to the incident were not called upon to testify to discredit the allegations.
“Jamie will appeal the verdict, though this will prolong his increasingly difficult circumstances in Dubai, and compound the enormous financial losses he has suffered as a consequence of the ongoing case.”
The defendant had already been sentenced to a month in jail over public drinking and making a rude gesture on the same night.
Now the charges have been dropped.
Harron lost his job because of the case and spent more than £32,000 ($42,500) in expenses and legal fees trying to resolve the matter.
