This latest episode although may seem trivial , highlights what happens when there is a perceived anything goes in Dubai attitude but the reality is that sometimes nothing goes. It is the main reason Dubai is a Schizo city , publicly they will arrest and imprison Groveridder for drugs but we know it all goes on , one the one hand it will promote Hollywood and all it brings but when it gets a little close to the knuckles the defences will go up.

Moral of the story is be yourslef from the start and not when it makes you feel uncomfortable being something or someone else.

A British man convicted of having sex on a Dubai beach has been re-arrested as he was about to board a flight to the UK, his lawyer has said.

Vince Acors, 34, of Bromley, London, was detained at Dubai Airport and returned to jail.

His lawyer Andrew Crossley said Acors’s flight confirmation was allegedly “not in order”.

Acors and Michelle Palmer, 36, of Oakham, Rutland, were given suspended jail sentences.

Acors had been due to return on Friday but a delay in the deportation process meant he was unable to board a Heathrow-bound plane and spent the weekend in jail.

Mr Crossley said: “The return of Vince Acors has been delayed yet again and he will not be returning to the UK tomorrow [Tuesday].

“The situation is close to becoming farcical and Vince is severely disappointed.

“After having booked and confirmed his return flight on three separate occasions through the course of the day Vince was re-arrested at Dubai Airport, as his flight confirmation was allegedly not in order.

“He has been returned to jail, his precise return is now unknown.”

Palmer and Acors were arrested on the Jumeirah Beach on 5 July, hours after meeting at a champagne brunch.

They were found guilty of unmarried sex and public indecency at Dubai’s Court of First Instance in October. Both were fined £170 and sentenced to three months in prison.

They admitted a charge of being drunk in a public place.

Source: BBC News

They have always insisted they didn’t have actual sex on Jumeriah Beach the night they were arrested, this for them was the basis of their defence. At no point has their been any real remorse for their actions, at no point have I sensed any real sorrow for what they did except a feeling a self pity.

The whole time it was a matter of ‘how’ to get off and get away, despite Palmer saying “”It just proves our innocence after all the bad stuff that was written.” NO it does not prove anything because in my mind it was never about the actual act itself, it was always about how one reacts to getting caught. Let’s be 100% clear here they were not arrested for playing tidily winks were they?, AND if stories of Palmers reaction to being asked to stop are to be believed she wasn’t too bothered about the local customs and laws.

Once the two are deported this case will be over as far as the Dubai authorities are concerned but the real conclusion could be way way off. If the tabloids in the UK get involved Dubai could find itself in the dock, a dock that has no rules and laws, this for me would be a travesty of justice. Palmer and Acors need to let this go now and learn a lesson that it is always best to respect someone’s culture before this kind of thing happens, I feel though this is not the last we will hear of this case.

Michelle Palmer, 36, and Vince Acors, 34, who have been on bail during their trial, were not in court for the verdict but their lawyer said they were “very happy” at the news.

Hassan Matar said a three-month prison sentence imposed by a lower court had been suspended but that the pair would now be deported, implying that their conviction still stood.

“The court found they deserved mercy,” Matar said. “The ruling proves that the judicial system in Dubai is fair… it is not subject to external pressure.”

The two were found guilty in October in a highly publicised case in the emirate, which despite its pro-Western outlook still adheres to certain strict Islamic rules and bans sex out of wedlock.

Palmer and Acors denied charges of having sex in public and public indecency, but admitted to being under the influence of alcohol when they were caught on Dubai’s Jumeirah public beach in July after meeting at a champagne brunch in one of the city’s glitzy five-star hotels.

In addition to the jail sentence and deportation, they were each fined 179 pounds for drinking alcohol, but both the defence and prosecution had appealed over the prison term.

Under the laws of the United Arab Emirates the maximum sentence for sex outside marriage is one year imprisonment and the minimum is three months.

“They are very happy about what happened today, this is a very good verdict,” Matar told Britain’s Sky News television, adding that the departure date of the pair would be kept secret.

“The verdict concerning their expulsion remains valid,” he had said earlier, adding there was no deadline for their deportation. “There are only a few routine procedures to complete for their departure.”

Matar said he was planning to call for a suspension of the deportation order to allow Palmer and Acors to return to the United Arab Emirates in future if they wished.

At the opening of their trial in August, both denied having sex, with Palmer saying they were simply “kissing and hugging.”

Matar had insisted that the results of a medical test on Palmer just hours after they were arrested on July 5 showed “she had not engaged in recent sexual intercourse,” while the medical report for Acors was inconclusive.

Palmer was sacked from her job as a publishing executive in the UAE following the case, while Acors was visiting Dubai at the time.

The case turned the spotlight on the lifestyle of the 120,000-plus British residents of the UAE, around 100,000 of whom live in Dubai, a city of opulent hotels and shopping malls which hosts hundreds of thousands of Western residents and tourists.

Source: AFP

Michelle Palmer and Vince Acors were convicted and sentenced to three months in prison in October for having sex outside of marriage, public indecency and drunkenness.

The Dubai Court of Appeals upheld the guilty verdict but dropped their prison sentences – though it ruled the couple must still be deported from the United Arab Emirates and pay a fine of about $272 each.

“This is a good result,” said Hassan Matter, the couple’s Dubai-based lawyer. “This means the law in Dubai is just and shows the judge has a good mind and a good heart.”

The two Britons, who are both in their 30s, met at an all-you-can-drink champagne brunch before they were arrested in July. Both previously admitted they were drunk but denied having sex.

The case revealed a fault line between Dubai’s expatriate majority and the city’s conservative Arab, Muslim minority.

Public displays of affection are illegal in Dubai – a city that has worked hard to cultivate an image as a party hot spot for Western tourists and businesses in the Middle East but has a conservative legal code based on Islamic laws and tribal rules.

The couple’s trial prompted at least one Dubai five-star hotel chain to issue an advisory for Western tourists on appropriate behavior.

The Jumeirah Group cautioned guests at the Medinat Jumeirah hotel that “drunken behavior, especially outside licensed premises in the hotel, is punished severely.” It also recommended tourists be discreet with displays of affection in public.

“Anything more than a peck on the cheek could offend those around you and even possibly lead to police involvement,” the advisory said.

Source: International Herald Tribune

Michelle Palmer, 36, of Oakham, Rutland, and Vince Acors, 34, of Bromley, south-east London, were both sentenced to three months in prison.

But Hassan Matter said prosecutors had lodged an appeal, arguing the sentence was “not enough”, and a judge would now have to decide whether to extend it.

Mr Matter has already lodged an appeal against the pair’s convictions.

Both were found guilty of unmarried sex and public indecency at Dubai’s Court of First Instance earlier this month.

They were also fined 1,000 dirhams (£160; $350) for being drunk in a public place and issued with deportation orders.

Champagne brunch

Mr Matter said on Monday: “The Dubai Public Prosecution made an appeal yesterday.

“They say the three months is not enough. They say it should be longer.

“It means the judge will now have to decide whether to increase their sentences.”

Mr Matter said the prosecution appeal would be heard on 18 November at the same time as the defence argument against the convictions.

Palmer and Acors were arrested on 5 July on Jumeirah Beach hours after meeting at a champagne brunch.

After their conviction, a spokesman for the judge said a sentence of three months was “usual in these cases”.

But senior prosecutor Faisal Abdelmalek Ahli said he was disappointed.

“It’s very light,” he said. “It’s normal for a sentence to be six months to a year for an offence such as this.”

Palmer, who was sacked from her job in Dubai as a publishing executive after her arrest, said in a statement she and Acors had been “just kissing and hugging”.

Source: BBC News

(Picture : Jonathan Pansacola)

There has been much furore about both these situations with so called experts clambering to explain their take on the why and how of the whole ex-pat Dubai relationship.

For me it comes down to a difference in cultures and values and thus this means where in Dubai acts such as having sex on the beach are seen as a no no, in the UK maybe they aren’t seen in such a bad light. Some may say this is a bold statement , however on the same day that the sex on the beach case came to court, newspapers in the UK were full of how plans were being considered to turn a blind eye to dogging (will explain later what this is) and to sexual acts which occur in male public toilets.

For those of you from Dubai with an innocent mind you may think dogging is something to do with man and his best friend, unfortunately not. Dogging is the act of having sex in public in the “hope” that people will come and watch you. As for the male toilets issue I won’t explain further, but just say George Micheal Central Park a few years ago.

This is the crux of the matter the countries from where the ex-pats come do not see as wrong things such as having sex on the beach or mocking God in everyday conversation. It is a part of the culture to talk about sexual conquests of the weekend with your work colleagues at work, even about your sex life at home with your current partner. In Dubai and in Muslim culture the relationship between a Husband and Wife are seen as a very private affair and not generally discussed for mere titillation, God is seen as something you do not joke about as religion is not a joking matter. However in places like the UK and US God is seen as a Joke period for many and therefore it is common place to hear jokes and negative comments about God in everyday life, even in adverts and on the TV.

So is this a matter of a few ex-pats forgetting where they were and therefore slipping up? Unfortunately I don’t this is a case of a simple slip up but an outcome of Dubai being Dubai. Ex-pats are generally given free licence to do whatever they want, as long as it is in the Hotel bars etc, there is never any cultural education as to Muslims hold certain values. Furthermore many of the rich kids around Dubai , act like want to be ex-pats engaging in the same activities as them all of which contradict their culture, sadly they think success is being out of your head on some beach copulating with a someone you just met because it’s what all the cool kids do.

As has been said many times before on these pages, if Dubai continues to prostitute itself to the highest bidder then things like this will become more and more common place. Yes let well educated westerners into the country , Yes let them work for your companies , Yes let them live it up in nice Villas , but No don’t let them think there are no rules as long as they don’t get caught breaking them.

As for mocking God , sometimes I think the whole of Dubai is one big act of mocking God surely letting what goes on in front of your noses happen is mocking God is it not?