'Sex in cab' pair take case to Dubai Court of Appeal
Two expats accused of having sex in the back of a cab pleaded not guilty before Dubai Appeal Court yesterday as they launched a bid to clear their names.
Brit Rebecca Blake and her co-defendant, an Irishman, were sentenced to three months in jail on November 22 by Dubai Misdemeanours Court after being found guilty of having an illegal affair. They were also fined Dhs3,000 for drinking alcohol.
They were arrested after the driver of the taxi stopped to report the couple to a passing police patrol. Their lawyer, Shaker Al Shammary, told the court yesterday that the cabbie fabricated the story after he tried to blackmail the pair and they refused to pay.
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The 'sex in a cab' case is being heard by Dubai Courts
Blake hired a publicist following her arrest and has spoken to British media on several occasions, saying she is scared of going to jail. Her co-accused has shunned publicity.
During their original trial, a policeman testified that he witnessed the defendants having sex in the cab. He said Blake was naked and was sat on the man’s lap for four minutes before he knocked on the window and they stopped.
The taxi driver said he picked up the couple, who had been drinking, at 10.30pm in May last year in Tecom and they asked to go to Al Barsha.
He said in his testimony: “We were driving on Sheikh Zayed Road and I noticed the man was drinking. I told him it is not allowed to have alcohol inside the taxi, but he drank it and threw the glass out of the window.
“The next thing, I looked in the mirror and saw the woman sitting on the man’s thighs. She was naked, moving up and down and making sounds.”
ali.shouk@7days.ae
10 Comments
by NewCrunch
Wednesday, January 23 2013, 7:46PM
“@djones: you really need to improve on your reading and comprehension skills. They were found GUILTY and they appealed. What lack of evidence are you talking about? Try to understand how the judicial process works.”
by NewCrunch
Wednesday, January 23 2013, 12:26PM
“@chalky:.... and I have seen westernrs totally drunk, obnoxious, and indescent in public. What is your point coz you are not making any sense at all. Doe sthe policeman also have something against them???”
by chalky6766
Wednesday, January 23 2013, 9:43AM
“Sober & reliable? Sorry but some taxis that I have gotten into 'sober' have had extremely aggressive drivers who seem to take great pleasure in driving like maniacs, having no change from a (50) and being generally rude. My partner has also been verbally harassed once by a taxi driver who accused her of being drunk when she is in fact teetotal i.e. she never drinks!. Point here is that trusting the word of the driver just prior to him stopping by a police car is a little extreme, if he has a bug up his proverbial about Westerners then he could easily of made it up or made it seem a lot worse than it was. Devil's advocate approach to this however it needs to be seen from both sides as all we have seen is the full weight of prosecution and the publicity surrounding this. To conclude the fine for 'consuming alcohol' is utterly ridiculous, they are not Muslim and alcohol is widely available here or is that not the case etc etc”
by NewCrunch
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 6:42PM
“@the observer: your comment makes perfect sense however the defendants in this case are western, so they MUST be honest and everyone else is a liar. It's a crime and they need to be punished.
@djoanes: it's only going on because thet appealed. I think she did this for the publicity. her first priority should be to hire a lawyer and not a publicist. The more this drags on, the more attention and interviews she gets. I feel no sympathy with her whatsoever.”
by Princess Consuela
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 5:48PM
“Only in Dubai will these people get a 3-month jail term whereas those who've beaten the wits out of a pregnant woman and her husband in Ikea will get a month.”
by Haasin Ze
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 5:43PM
“It's was against the law all evidence were there i think police man & cab driver have no connection and why should they lie.. they should be punished ”
by The Observer
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 5:19PM
“I agree with user djoanes1...this has been going on for too long, although justice needs to be served here.
There is the Taxi Driver who was sober, further testifying that the defendants were both intoxicated & also "saw the woman sitting on the man's thighs. She was naked, moving up and down and making sounds."
There was also the police officer who also 'testified that he caught the defendants having sex in the cab'
So can the statements of two independent individuals who were sober be acceptable & reliable?”
by Haasin Ze
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 5:17PM
“@djoanes1 so you meant to say police were lying ? taxi driver was lying too ? and the one who were heavily drunk were not doing anything "May be they were sleeping on back seats ??" Do you really think police man will listen to taxi driver and give same statement in the court as taxi driver. Get your facts right its the against law of the country they were aware of that they should be punished .”
by vishnu das
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 2:50PM
“this is not america this is uae i congratulate the driver”
by djoanes1
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 12:38PM
“Is this still going on? The judge should throw out this ridiculous case. It is clear no progress is being made due to a lack of evidence all round. It is an embarrasment to the UAE to insist that this continues. The pair have been punished enough. Let everyone go so they can get on with their lives.”