Sex On the Beach

[Fulham Broadway 16,432]

Sex-on-beach trial Britons guilty

Vince Acors was in Dubai on holiday when he met Michelle Palmer

A British man and woman have been sentenced to three months in jail in Dubai after being found guilty of having sex on a beach.

Michelle Palmer, 36, of Oakham, Rutland, and Vince Acors, 34, of Bromley, south-east London, were arrested on 5 July.

They were fined 1,000 dirhams (£160; $350) and will be deported after serving their sentences.

Their lawyer says the pair will appeal against the verdict.

A spokesman for the judge said Acors and Palmer would be jailed and then deported for the offences of unmarried sex and public indecency.

He added that they had been fined for being drunk in a public place.

"The sentence of three months is usual in these cases. We get many cases of this kind," he said.

Acors and Palmer were not at Dubai's Court of First Instance to hear the ruling but had been ordered not to leave the emirate.

'Not happy'

Their defence lawyer Hassan Matter said the pair were upset but not surprised by the verdict.

"They are not guilty but they were prepared for this," he said.

I'm not happy... It's normal for a sentence to be six months to a year for an offence such as this

Faisal Abdelmalek Ahli,

Senior prosecutor

Case is a warning to others

He said he was hopeful the conviction would be overturned.

"I think I have a chance in the appeal court. I have 15 days to appeal. I have to find the reason why the judge gave three months."

Acors and Palmer will remain on bail until their appeal is heard at the court.

Senior prosecutor Faisal Abdelmalek Ahli said he was disappointed at the length of sentence.

"I'm not happy," he said, speaking outside court. "It's very light. It's normal for a sentence to be six months to a year for an offence such as this."

Mr Ahli said he expected Acors and Palmer to serve their full three-month term in a Dubai prison.

"Sometimes people serve half their sentence, but this is so short I expect they will serve it all," he said.

'Kissing and hugging'

The pair were arrested on Jumeirah Beach hours after meeting at a champagne brunch at Dubai's five-star Le Meridien hotel.

A police officer told the court he had warned the pair about their inappropriate behaviour, but returned later to find them having sex on a sun lounger.

Palmer, who was sacked from her job in Dubai as a publishing executive after her arrest, said in a statement she and Acors had been "just kissing and hugging".

Mr Matter said witness statements, including one from the police officer, were "wrong" and medical examinations had proved Palmer had not had sex on the beach.

Friends of Palmer say she has been admitted to hospital in recent weeks suffering from anxiety and depression.

The case has turned the spotlight on the lifestyle of the 120,000 British residents of the United Arab Emirates.

The BBC's Christian Fraser, in Dubai, says there have been concerns lately that tourists are ignoring the emirate's strict Islamic laws and that the outcome of this case will be a warning that such drunken behaviour will not be tolerated in public.

Pauline Crowe, chief executive of UK charity Prisoners Abroad, said the case served as a timely reminder to people to be aware of local customs and laws because ignorance would not be accepted as a defence in court. She said: "As this case illustrates, what may seem like an innocent act or misdemeanour in the UK can often land people in serious trouble when abroad."

BBC

Mate works in Dubai, said there are bars and clubs where arabs are drinking and snorting before they go to 'lady houses' for a a bit of the other. Hypocrisy at its best. And what about the copper ?? watched them and reported them. How long was he watching for ? Get a life ..... or at least take some pictures.

[Drogba11CFC 108]

Madness. This is madness. Complete and utter fucking religious madness. (I can say that...there isn't a massive hole behind me and an angry Spartan facing me.) Reason #633,918,206,854,275 why I hate religious laws. And religion in general. Still, at least we can get our hopes up if Ronaldo goes there on holiday.

Sounds like there's more hypocrisy there than the Kop.

Edited October 17, 2008 by Drogba11CFC

[Fulham Broadway 16,432]

UN SPLIT OVER OUTDOOR HUMPING

A DAMAGING split emerged at the United Nations last night as western governments called for a new resolution guaranteeing the right to do it on a beach.

France and Germany have demanded a charter on outdoor humping but it has been fiercely opposed by Egypt, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the Irish.

A spokesman for the Dubai government said: "Do you think we are no better than pigs? Backward, medieval pigs?"

Holland, Denmark and Sweden all favour making outdoor sex mandatory and would prefer it if couples performed their intercourse in front of an audience of eight year-olds.

The Dutch ambassador has even called for a system of 'tag humping' where both males and females could be substituted by a team-mate half way through.

Britain has threatened to veto any form of tag sex but will support the principle of open-air lovemaking as long as it is done as quietly as possible, followed by a nice cup of tea.

UN ambassador Sir Denys Finch-Hatton said: "The last thing one wants to hear when one is enjoying a round of golf is a lot of people shouting 'ooooh' and 'aaaah' and 'stick it in'."

The US ambassador offered qualified backing for outdoor congress as long as it results in the conception of a Christian baby.

Meanwhile a raft of eastern European states have agreed to support the charter if it includes domestic livestock, aquatic mammals, close relatives, and the larger species of fish.

[Drogba11CFC 108]

Glad to see the daily FB has a followup.

Time for my speciality...voicing my opinion with a healthy dose of profanity and "I hate Liverpool"...

I've yet again read the views in the Sun. I wish I hadn't, the self-righteousness, and surprise, surprise, it's pro-prosecution, brings my diarrhoea to the boil. Their opinions are lurching from side to side like one of my trains in Rail Simulator. The idea that sex should be against the law is (in my non-PC opinion) a complete shitload of motherfucking bullfuck.

A lot of the self-righteousness has come from the Livscum and Arsewipe fans (and considering that's only 6 comments between them, it says something) but the Sun never sells in Liverpool. Liverpool fans don't buy the Sun, so why would they comment? And I doubt they own computers either.

Oh wait, Liverpool fans don't BUY the Sun...

and they probably wrote the comments on PCs "borrowed" from a delivery van.

Toilet-related and shitload-related quotes supplied by James Rolfe, aka the Angry Video Game Nerd.

Edited October 17, 2008 by Drogba11CFC

[warnie_666 1,081]

Desperados

Now they can try something very novel. Sex in Jail

[warnie_666 1,081]

Mate works in Dubai, said there are bars and clubs where arabs are drinking and snorting before they go to 'lady houses' for a a bit of the other. Hypocrisy at its best. And what about the copper ?? watched them and reported them. How long was he watching for ? Get a life ..... or at least take some pictures.

Public nudity is banned in most of the non west countries. Brothels, drinking, snorting, is fine. He should be glad he got just 6 months in jail, had it been some other arab country, he would have lost his marbles.

[Drogba11CFC 108]

I hope that doesn't mean what I think it does...

This reminds me of the episode of "American Dad" when the family go to Saudi Arabia and eventually end up on the wrong side of The Police of Vice and Virtue, who shoot people for crimes such as singing and dancing.

[misschief 24]

That's shocking. You can't even have a few drinks and get a bit carried away without a spell in prison?

[Drogba11CFC 108]

What happened to the copper btw? Was he sacked for dogging?

[Elliott 7]

If you go to another country you should make sure you know about their laws. Instead of proclaiming it unjust, like so many complain about the attitude immigrants who come over here display over the union jack for instance, realise it is their laws and their customs and respect them.

I have zero sympathy for these two people. This wasn't a hidden law, they just had no respect for their hosts.

[Zohaib 0]

That's shocking. You can't even have a few drinks and get a bit carried away without a spell in prison?

Yeah you can't. You have to look at the type of country you're in. Just like you can't walk naked in the European and north American countries, you can't get drunk and have sex in public in the middle eastern countries.

[warnie_666 1,081]

Yeah you can't. You have to look at the type of country you're in. Just like you can't walk naked in the European and north American countries, you can't get drunk and have sex in public in the middle eastern countries.

LOL!!! walking naked in public is prohibited in all countries. but the sentences differ from country to country. Some countries will let you go by warning you, some yould jail you for a night and some countries would make sure you have nothing to show the next time you go naked in public

[Drogba11CFC 108]

Do you really mean what I think you do?

RE the europe and NA thing...I don't think anyone would be brave (or stupid) enough to walk naked in public through somewhere like Newcastle in mid-January...

[warnie_666 1,081]

Do you really mean what I think you do?

How do i know what you thought i meant............... :huh:

err...i hope i got that right.

Edited October 22, 2008 by warnie_666

[warnie_666 1,081]

RE the europe and NA thing...I don't think anyone would be brave (or stupid) enough to walk naked in public through somewhere like Newcastle in mid-January...

He meant, in Summers.. and also sometimes you have the PETA supporters walking naked on the street protesting.

Edited October 22, 2008 by warnie_666

[Drogba11CFC 108]

How do i know what you thought i meant............... :huh:

err...i hope i got that right.

Basically I thought you meant that the punishment in Saudi Arabia for public nudity was castration.

RE the summer thing...I live in the UK, where January and July seem to share the same weather conditions.

Edited October 23, 2008 by Drogba11CFC

[Fulham Broadway 16,432]

Fucking religion is bad enough, might as well beleive in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe instead of any of those 'holy' made up books, but the hypocrisy of the practicioners is even worse......

[Elliott 7]

It's easy for a priest or whatever to do anything he likes, and then say it is God's work.