Dubai: A British disc jockey faces four years in jail after the Dubai Court of First Instance found him guilty on Sunday of consuming hashish in Dubai.
Although he pleaded not guilty and contended that he did not use drugs in Dubai, the 30-year-old British DJ, A.M., was incriminated by the court’s Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout.
He will be deported after the completion of his jail term.
"I am not guilty. I want a judgment," argued A.M. when he defended himself in courtroom nine.
Prosecutors accused A.M. of consuming drugs and referred him to court. An Emirati anti-narcotics first lieutenant testified that the accused was arrested following a tip off to the Anti-Narcotics Department on March 1.
"An informant alerted the Department that A.M. possessed and consumed tetrahydrocannabinol. We processed a search and arrest warrant from prosecutors. The informant warned us later that the suspect was in a taxi; an anti-narcotics police team chased the taxi for a while until it stopped in the Jumeirah 3 area in front of a cafeteria. We raided the spot and detained the defendant," claimed the first lieutenant.
Prosecution records said police searched the Briton and searched his belongings.
"Then we searched his house, but did not find any banned substances. We took him to the Department for examination. The primary tests showed that he consumed hashish. When we confronted him with the findings, he claimed that he consumed hashish when he celebrated Christmas in Britain," the DJ was quoted as saying during prosecutors’ questioning.
Sunday’s judgment remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
