A British
businesswoman and
an Irish welder
convicted of having
drunken sex in the
back of a taxi in Dubai
have been
sentenced to two
months in jail after
losing an appeal.
Rebecca Blake, 30, from
Dorking, Surrey, and
Conor McRedmond, 28,
from Tullamore, Co.
Offaly, had spent a year
fighting the allegations.
Witnesses said
recruitment executive
Blake stripped off before
straddling McRedmond,
who had his jeans
pulled down.
The pair denied the
accusations and
yesterday said they
were 'disappointed' by
the outcome, which will
see both deported after
serving their sentences.
Blake, who was sacked
from her £120,000-a-
year post, said: 'I am
devastated by this result
and gutted this has been
dragging on for a year. I
cannot wait to get home
and start my life now
but I am very scared
about going to prison.'
McRedmond has been
living in Dubai for four
years, said: 'I am
disappointed after
coming this far and
fighting these allegations
for so long. I feel they
are making an example
of us.'
Blake and McRedmond
do not have to go to jail
immediately and can
decide when to hand
themselves in - but if
they are arrested in the
meantime or get into
trouble with the law,
they will be taken
straight to prison.
They cannot leave the
country until they have
served their sentence.
The pair said they had
been financially crippled
by the case after
spending more than
€50,000 fighting to clear
their names.
Blake, who moved to
Dubai in September
2011, has not been able
to find work since she
was sacked and neither
of them can leave the
country after having
their passports
confiscated.
Blake and McRedmond
were arrested on May 4
last year after going on
a ten-hour drinking
binge. The pair met
hours earlier at a
brunch, where they
admitted getting drunk
on free-flowing wine
and vodka in an all-
inclusive €45-a-head
deal.
They carried on drinking
at a hotel and got into a
taxi together at about
10pm.
Taxi driver Qaiser Khan,
30, claimed within
minutes of getting in,
Blake had taken her top
off and was writhing on
top of McRedmond
while 'making the
sounds of a woman
having sex'.
He pulled over on
Sheikh Zayed road and
summoned policeman
Abdullah Obaid Khamis,
who told the court that
he found the pair having
sex and interrupted
them by tapping on the
window.
He told prosecutors:
'They kept having sex
for four minutes. The
man's shirt was open,
his trousers were down
to his knees and the
woman was not
wearing any
underwear.'
The taxi driver alleged
Blake offered him 'a lot
of money' to tell
prosecutors they had
been kissing rather than
having sex, but he
refused.
Blake and McRedmond,
who works as a
manager at Kelly Steel
engineering firm, said
the allegations had been
trumped up after they
rowed with the taxi
driver about taking a
longer route home.
The pair were originally
convicted in November
in the criminal court,
where they were both
sentenced to three
months in jail and given
a €630 fine for drinking
alcohol - a crime in the
Islamic country.
The sentence was
challenged in the Court
of Appeal in February,
which cut the sentence
by a month and
reduced the fine.
But the Supreme Court -
the highest court in the
United Arab Emirates -
refused to drop the
charges altogether,
despite medical reports
proving the couple did
not have sex.
Their lawyer Shaker al
Shammary yesterday
said the statements of
the two witnesses were
inconsistent, adding:
'They threatened to
complain about the taxi
driver and he beat them
to it - yet there is no
mention of their dispute
in the Supreme Court
judgment.
'The medical records
show what the
witnesses said was not
true but this was not
taken into account in the
ruling.'
The duo's only options
now are to beg for a
royal pardon from
Sheikh Mohammed bin
Rashid al Maktoum, the
ruler of Dubai, or they
can serve their time and
challenge the
deportation order in the
courts.
McRedmond said: 'We
find ourselves in exactly
the same position we
were in after the original
verdict but thousands of
pounds poorer.
'Any court in the world
would accept the
medical evidence above
all else. I love Dubai and
wanted to carry on
living here but I am left
without a choice.'
There were fears their
failure to clear their
names is part of a
crackdown from Dubai
authorities on expats
flouting their strict rules.
Vince Acors and
Michelle Palmer, a British
couple caught having
sex on a beach, were
treated more leniently in
2008 when they were
convicted on the same
charge of indecency and
ordered to serve three
months in prison, but
received a suspended
sentence on appeal.