Ever thought of getting frisky abroad? Many people will have second thoughts about it in Dubai after an Irishman was prosecuted. The Daily Shift’s Sharron Lynskey has the full story…
Jailed: Conor McRedmond and Rebecca Blake with their lawyer before they appeared in court.
A court in Dubai has sentenced an Irishman and a British woman to three months in jail after engaging in sexual activities in the back of a taxi.
Prosecutors accused Conor McRedmond and Rebecca Blake of removing some clothing and fondling each other in the back of a cab in May of this year. The couple were charged with “breach of honour with consent” and committing “an indecent act in a taxi” when they both appeared in court last month. They denied these charges and accused the taxi driver of contriving the story following a fare dispute.
McRedmond, a welder from Tullamore in County Offaly and Blake, a recruitment consultant from Surrey in England, were arrested on May 4 after meeting just hours earlier in a hotel bar. The Pakistani taxi driver told the court in a written statement that the couple seemed drunk and confused. They repeatedly changed their minds about where they were going while McRedmond drank heavily from a bottle. The driver noticed the couple engaging in sexual endeavours and upon spotting a police car, pulled over and asked an officer to survey the scene.
The police officer, Abdullah Khamis, claimed in his witness statement that he interrupted the couple by tapping on the window. He also told the court that Mr McRedmond’s trousers were “down to his knees”.
The couple’s lawyer, Shaker al Shammary, stated that a court had sentenced them to serve a three-month spell in prison. The judge said the two will be deported after serving their sentences, in addition to paying a fine of 3000 dirhams (€635) each. Mr Shammary also added that they plan to appeal the courts decision.
This is not the first time Westerners have come into conflict with the strict social codes of Dubai. In 2008, a British couple were found guilty of engaging in drunken sexual activity on a beach in Dubai. They too received a three-month sentence followed by deportation but saw the decision overruled following an appeal.
