Dubai: A visitor has been jailed for a month for drinking alcohol in Ramadan and fined Dh2,000 for denting the bonnet of a taxi after its driver woke him up.
The 51-year-old Briton was said to have stopped the taxi on July 5 on Shaikh Zayed Road and asked the Bangladeshi driver to drop him at a five-star hotel near Dubai Creek.
“When I reached the hotel, the defendant was asleep on the back seat. I woke him up and told him that he had reached his destination… he then told me to drop him somewhere else. Although the meter read Dh4.5 I asked him for Dh10 considering that it’s the minimum fare. He got angry and pounded his hand on the hood six times and dented it,” the driver told prosecutors.
Records said police were summoned to the scene and the Briton was taken into custody where it was discovered that he was drunk at 2am.
Prosecutors charged the defendant with drinking alcohol and wrecking the taxi and referred him to the Dubai Misdemeanours Court.
The Briton entered a guilty plea when he appeared in court on Tuesday.
When questioned by the police, the defendant said that he had got into the taxi in Bur Dubai.
“I asked the driver to drop me at a certain hotel… then I remembered that I was not staying at that hotel so I asked him to change his route to another hotel close by. When he asked me for extra money, I got angry. I hit the bonnet of his car with my fist and dented it. Police arrived at the scene shortly after he called them. Then they took me into custody and sent me for a liquor test… I had consumed beer,” said the Briton.
Records showed that the defendant obtained a waiver from the taxi operator after he paid for the damage to the bonnet.
The Briton was taken into custody immediately after the ruling was pronounced.
