Dubai: A drunken traveller has been jailed for six months for assaulting a policeman and clicking a photo of him then tearing his jacket after he was arrested for stealing perfumes on New Year’s Eve.
A Filipino security officer at the airport saw the 47-year-old British traveller on surveillance cameras stealing perfumes from the Duty Free section on December 31.
Once he made sure that the British traveller had taken perfumes without paying for them, the Filipino contacted the airport’s police desk.
While being questioned by the police, the Briton, who was drunk, used his phone to click a photo of the investigating policeman without the latter’s consent.
The policeman asked the Briton to give him the phone to delete the photo but the defendant turned violent and assaulted the policeman.
He also cursed the policeman and pulled his arm, in the process ripping off the sleeve of his jacket.
On Sunday, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the Briton for getting drunk, attempting to steal perfumes, assaulting and insulting a policeman, taking a photo of him without his permission and ripping off a police uniform (jacket).
Presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi said the accused will be deported following the completion of his punishment.
The Briton got drunk at the airport and tried to steal two bottles of perfume, three golf balls and three liquor bottles worth Dh3,300 from the Duty Free.
The 47-year-old pleaded not guilty in court but only admitted that he consumed alcohol.
The assaulted policeman said the incident happened shortly after the Briton was reported to have stolen from the Duty Free.
“During questioning, the defendant used his smart phone and clicked a photo of me. He refused to give me the phone to delete the photo. When I tried to take the phone from him, he turned violent. He beat me and cursed me and then he ripped off my jacket’s sleeve. He was reported to have been spotted on CCTV stealing some products from the Duty Free,” he testified.
The British defendant was quoted admitting to prosecutors that he got drunk and took items from the Duty Free without paying for them besides assaulting the policeman. The ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
