Brit tourist Jamie Harron sentenced to three months in Dubai jail for ‘accidentally touching man’s hip in busy bar’
Scotsman, 27, faces jail time in an Arab prison all because he touched a man in a bar in the UAE by mistake
A BRITISH man has been sentenced to three months in prison in Dubai for touching a man's hip in a bar, according to campaigners.
Jamie Harron, from Stirling, was arrested in July over the incident in which he said he put his hand on a man's hip to avoid spilling a drink in a crowded bar.
The 27-year-old electrician had been working in Afghanistan and was on a two-day stopover in the United Arab Emirates at the time.
After his arrest for public indecency he lost his job and was told he could have faced up to three years in jail.
Campaign group Detained in Dubai (DiD) said he was sentenced to three months imprisonment at court on Sunday but lawyers plan to appeal.
The group said Mr Harron is "angry, disappointed, and dreads what may happen next".
He is not currently in custody while the appeal is considered, DiD chief executive Radha Stirling said.
Mr Harron has already been sentenced in absentia to 30 days in prison for failing to appear at a court hearing for making a rude gesture and drinking alcohol during the same July incident.
DiD said the 27-year-old was not told about the court date in advance and that sentence is also being appealed against.
In relation to the alleged public indecency charge, Mr Harron is said to have been holding a drink, moving through a crowded bar and held a hand in front of him to avoid spilling it on himself or others. He then ''touched a man on his hip to avoid impact''.
Mr Harron said: "My lawyers have put an objection in on my 30-day prison sentence issued by my absentia that me and my lawyer didn't even know about in the first place.
"I hope that it can be sorted out but I already didn't think it would have went on for so many months in the first place. I've lost my job, I'm in debt now, I may be going to prison and all this for a two-day stopover.
"It's just unbelievable. I'm still in shock that it's actually happened."
Mr Harron from Stirling, Scotland, admits he placed his hand on a man's hip in a bar so they did not bump and spill their drinks, apparently sparking a "cultural misunderstanding" but denies indecency.
He was arrested following the incident, jailed for five days before being released on bail.
Jamie lost his job and has been stuck in Dubai for the last three months where he has spent over £32,000 in expenses and legal fees trying to resolve the matter.
His accuser accused Jamie of public indecency after he tried to squeeze past him in the popular Rock Bottom Bar.
Jamie said: "I never knew how much stress I could endure until this happened and the waiting game is the worst."
Jamie denies the charge of public indecency, claiming his only intention was to avoid spilling a drink.
But tourists who consume alcohol at licensed venues in Dubai can still be arrested for having alcohol in their system. Most visitors are not aware of this fact and a number of British nationals have been caught out by this contradictory application of the law.
However, it is not clear what the exact circumstances of his arrest are.
Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained In Dubai, the British based NGO who is leading the campaign to help Jamie, said she has received more than 80 messages an hour offering support for Jamie since the news broke.
She added: "Jamie's case is not about knowing the law. He followed the law and has witnesses to support him.
"This is a case of false and spiteful allegations being made against Jamie and the way that Dubai authorities have responded.
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"The complainant in this case has no evidence of any crime being committed but Jamie has been stuck in the UAE for more than three months.
"Regarding the alcohol charges, of course, he was drinking, everyone was. He was in a licensed bar.
"Informing tourists of the law does not help when the entire enforcement system in the UAE needs an overhaul."
A spokesman for Neumann & Esser issued a statement on behalf of his accuser, businessman Emad Tabaza.
He claimed Harron had been "drunk" and "aggressive" at the bar and repeatedly touched Tabaza's thigh before police were called.
He said: "During a private visit to a club in Dubai, one of our employees was touched by the suspect on the thigh several times.
"As opposed to contrary descriptions, this was not in a crowd and on the hip, but actually at around 7.30 pm - therefore at a time when the club was not highly frequented by visitors. This is confirmed by several witnesses.
"Our employee emphatically, but politely, requested the clearly drunk suspect to refrain from this.
"After the police arrived, the suspect repeated the process several times (touching our employee's thigh) in front of both police officers and explained that such conduct is commonplace in Europe. As a result, the police arrested him."
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