Dubai: A manager won his appeal after a court acquitted him of trespassing into the villa of his tenant, a stewardess, assaulting and molesting her.
In July, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed the Romanian manager, J.M., for one year after convicting him of trespassing into the British stewardess’s residence, assaulting and molesting her.
J.M. appealed the primary ruling before the Appeal Court where he entered a not guilty plea and refuted all his accusations.
The Briton’s Iraqi housemate went down stairs from his room when he heard a heated argument and saw J.M. at the door partially dressed in March, said records.
When he appeared before the appeal court, J.M. denied trespassing, molesting and assaulting the stewardess and threatening her mother.
He told presiding judge Eisa Al Sharif that he went to the residence to discuss the rent.
Citing lack of corroborated evidence, presiding judge Al Sharif overturned J.M.’s imprisonment and cleared him of all charges.
According to the appellate judgement, J.M.’s deportation was also cancelled.
The Briton had alleged that her mother was on a visit to Dubai and staying with her at the time the incident took place.
“I rented the ground and upper floors from the suspect’s wife and dealt with her the first two months. Then J.M. started showing up at my gate and dealing with me. He constantly discussed the maintenance issues from the doorstep without coming inside. A month before the incident, he started stalking me. That day, he knocked on the door and I opened the door. He stood there only wearing a pair of shorts … and there [were] two companions with him. Suddenly he hugged and groped me and said that he missed me. He intended to molest me because he had been verbally stalking me.
“I pushed him away and when he pushed me back, I fell on the ground and injured my shoulder. When I asked him to leave the villa, he shouted back saying, ‘I will kick you out’. My housemate convinced the suspect and his companions to leave. J.M. had never asked me to vacate the villa,” she said.
The suspect dismissed the Briton’s allegations and contended in court that he went to the villa to ask the woman and her mother to vacate the place.
The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 28 days.
