Pair 'who had sex on Dubai beach' jailed

Two Britons accused of drunken sex on a public beach in Dubai this summer have been sentenced to three months in prison.

Vince Acors and Michelle Palmer are free on bail in Dubai, but are banned from leaving the country. They are preparing an appeal that they hope will keep them out of prison.

The pair have admitted to being drunk, and to kissing in public – both offences that could have landed them in trouble in the Arab oil state. They have denied the more serious charge that they were having sexual intercourse. Given the strictness of the law against sex between unmarried couples, it appeared that the court may have accepted their story.

"The verdict shows that the judge was convinced they did not have sexual intercourse but he punished them for the indecent act of kissing," their defence lawyer, Hassan Mattar, said.

"They haven't been arrested and taken into custody yet. I have 15 days to appeal. I have to find the reason why the judge gave three months. They are innocent. They are at home in Dubai. I have spoken to them. They are upset."

He claimed that a medical test on Palmer taken soon after her arrest proved "she had not engaged in recent sexual intercourse" while the medical report on Acors was inconclusive.

The pair are thought to have met for the first time only hours before their arrest in July, at a £60 all-you-can-drink champagne brunch at the five-star Le Meridien Hotel. A police officer said that he had warned the pair about their behaviour, but returned to Jumeirah Beach to find them having sex on a sun lounger.

Police sources have also claimed that Palmer shouted abuse at the officer and tried to hit him with a high-heeled shoe, before she was restrained and taken to a cell.

Palmer, 36, from Oakham, in Rutland, has lived in Dubai for about two years. The incident has already cost her a job as a publishing executive with ITP Publishing Group, and has reputedly made her ill with depression and anxiety. She was excused from appearing in court, but issued a statement insisting that she and Acors were simply "kissing and hugging".

Acors, 34, from Bromley, a director of a telecoms firm, was visiting a friend in Dubai. A prosecution official has been quoted as saying that he originally admitted having sex with Palmer, but later changed his story.

Judge Hamdi Abul Khair, presiding over Dubai's Court of First Instance, sentenced the pair to three months' imprisonment, fined them each 1,000 dirhams (£155) for drinking alcohol, and ordered that the couple should be deported after they had completed their sentences.

The prosecutor, Faisal Abdelmalek Ahli, said he was disappointed that the couple had received the minimum sentence. "I'm not happy," he said. "It's very light. It's normal for a sentence to be six months to a year. Sometimes people serve half their sentence, but this is so short I expect they will serve it all."

However, he dismissed any suggestion that the court had treated them leniently in order to avoid discouraging other Britons from taking jobs or holidays in Dubai.

There are in excess of 120,000 Britons living in the United Arab Emirates, of whom about 100,000 live in Dubai, all enjoying higher living standards than they would be likely to have in the UK. The UAE also attracts around a million holidaying visitors from the UK every year, attracted by the heat and the shopping. Their numbers are not thought to have been affected by the huge publicity in the British press given to the arrest of Palmer and Acors.

Dubai: Dos and don'ts

* Sex: you can be arrested for public kissing or for being gay. Sex or cohabitation outside marriage is illegal.

* Language: swearing or obscene gestures can land you in prison for six months.

* Clothes: must cover tops of the arms and legs. Under- wear should not be seen.

* Drugs: zero tolerance, including some prescription drugs. Four years' jail term.

* Alcohol: not illegal for over 21s in licensed hotels and clubs and you can get a licence to drink at home. It is illegal to drink in public.

* Driving: In a minor accident, do not move the vehicle until police have arrived.

* Photography: photographing government and military sites is not allowed.

* Pork: banned, and it is illegal to import it.