A British man has been sentenced to three months in prison for touching a man on the hip while on a night out in Dubai.
Jamie Harron, 27, an electrician from Stirling, was on a two-day stopover in the United Arab Emirates when he brushed past Jordanian businessman Emad Tabaz while at the Rock Bottom bar and touched his hip.
Harron, who was arrested in July, says he was simply trying to avoid spilling drinks when the incident happened.
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Tabaz had dropped the claims, but the prosecution still went ahead.
Harron has been released on bail while his lawyers seek an appeal against the public indecency charge.
The defendant had already been sentenced to a month in jail over public drinking and making a rude gesture on the same night.
A statement by campaign group Detained in Dubai, which has been supporting Harron, said his lawyers would appeal for him and seek a civil suit against his accusers.
“Today Jamie Harron was sentenced to three months imprisonment for accidentally brushing the hip of an Arab customer at the Rock Bottom bar in Dubai ,” a statement from the group said.
“Key witnesses to the incident were not called upon to testify to discredit the allegations.
“Jamie will appeal the verdict, though this will prolong his increasingly difficult circumstances in Dubai, and compound the enormous financial losses he has suffered as a consequence of the ongoing case.”
Harron has already has lost his job because of the case and has spent over £32,000 ($ 42,500) in expenses and legal fees trying to resolve the matter.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We have been in contact with a British man following his arrest in Dubai, in July. We are providing consular assistance.”
