Businesswoman faces six years in jail for beach romp .
Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 5:03 am
No sex please, you're BritishFrom NICK PARKER
Chief Foreign Correspondent
in Dubai
Published: Today
RANDY Michelle Palmer breached a strict ban on unmarried sex during a boozy beach romp in Dubai.
The single British businesswoman was last night facing up to six years’ jail after she was caught canoodling in public with a holiday hunk.
Authorities – under growing pressure to curb the excesses of westerners who flock to the Muslim emirate – say she will also be deported from the country where she has lived and worked for three years.
Glitzy ... Dubai is a playground
Publishing firm manager Michelle was arrested after a cop saw her having sex on Jumeirah Beach. It is believed she was put in a cell.
She had earlier got drunk during a champagne brunch which turned into an all-day binge.
Michelle, 30, linked up at the bash with the British holidaymaker, known only as Vince, and joined him for a walk along the shore.
A police officer later spotted the pair having sex on the sand and let them off with a caution.
But the same cop arrested them both when he returned soon after – and found them at it AGAIN.
Sources said Michelle, who works in Dubai for magazines firm ITP Publishing, launched an angry four-letter tirade after her second romp was halted.
She is alleged to have called the cop a ********** Muslim **** and tried to hit him with her high-heeled shoe before being restrained.
Sex outside marriage is considered an offence in Dubai – one of the seven states which make up the United Arab Emirates.
Michelle was later charged with that, plus indecent behaviour in public, being drunk in public, and assaulting a police officer.
Authorities have warned her she faces between three months and six years in jail in the Arab state.
High-flyer ... Michelle Palmer's firm
Her lover faces a similar sentence. And last night unconfirmed reports from Dubai suggested the desperate pair had MARRIED in a bid to reduce their jail terms.
They were understood to have hastily organised a civil ceremony soon after their release on bail.
Both Michelle and the man have already made one court appearance and are due to reappear on a date to be fixed following the alleged incidents last Friday.
Mortified Michelle was full of remorse yesterday and begged authorities to show mercy.
She sobbed: “Because this is known everywhere they’re going to make an example of us and we’re going to get a higher sentence.
“We are in so much trouble and my family and everybody are affected. Until someone is in this situation they could never know what it’s like. It’s bad – it’s so, so bad.
“They are being pushed into a corner to make an example of us.
“I’m panicking – my mum is on anti-depressants. I can’t say anything else. I’ve got to go.
High-flyer Michelle is associate publisher for ITP, which produces more than 60 magazines serving the Middle East’s consumer, technology and business markets.
She was a regular at swish local parties.
Friday Brunches have become a favourite with Brits there – offering “all you can eat and drink deals for a set price.
A friend said last night: “Michelle’s a nice girl who’s made a very big mistake. God only knows how she must have felt when she sobered up.
“She went out with a group of friends and workmates to a champagne brunch party.
“The booze was flowing all day and she must have got carried away by the time she met Vince – a pal of one of her workmates.
“They went for a walk on the beach. They were pretty plastered and a cop found them having sex.
The friend added: “The jails out here have a terrible reputation and Michelle’s praying they go easy on her. But they seem under pressure to make her an example.
“Having sex in public here is taken very seriously. But it’s twice as serious if you’re not married. Westerners have flocked to Dubai, the Middle East’s glitziest playground, for fun and sun.
But officials have recently come under pressure to crack down on their visitors’ wilder antics. Beaches have become particularly sensitive areas, with moves to segregate families and single men.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “Two British nationals were arrested in Dubai. The case is currently under investigation.
You would think one warning would have been enough .
Chief Foreign Correspondent
in Dubai
Published: Today
RANDY Michelle Palmer breached a strict ban on unmarried sex during a boozy beach romp in Dubai.
The single British businesswoman was last night facing up to six years’ jail after she was caught canoodling in public with a holiday hunk.
Authorities – under growing pressure to curb the excesses of westerners who flock to the Muslim emirate – say she will also be deported from the country where she has lived and worked for three years.
Glitzy ... Dubai is a playground
Publishing firm manager Michelle was arrested after a cop saw her having sex on Jumeirah Beach. It is believed she was put in a cell.
She had earlier got drunk during a champagne brunch which turned into an all-day binge.
Michelle, 30, linked up at the bash with the British holidaymaker, known only as Vince, and joined him for a walk along the shore.
A police officer later spotted the pair having sex on the sand and let them off with a caution.
But the same cop arrested them both when he returned soon after – and found them at it AGAIN.
Sources said Michelle, who works in Dubai for magazines firm ITP Publishing, launched an angry four-letter tirade after her second romp was halted.
She is alleged to have called the cop a ********** Muslim **** and tried to hit him with her high-heeled shoe before being restrained.
Sex outside marriage is considered an offence in Dubai – one of the seven states which make up the United Arab Emirates.
Michelle was later charged with that, plus indecent behaviour in public, being drunk in public, and assaulting a police officer.
Authorities have warned her she faces between three months and six years in jail in the Arab state.
High-flyer ... Michelle Palmer's firm
Her lover faces a similar sentence. And last night unconfirmed reports from Dubai suggested the desperate pair had MARRIED in a bid to reduce their jail terms.
They were understood to have hastily organised a civil ceremony soon after their release on bail.
Both Michelle and the man have already made one court appearance and are due to reappear on a date to be fixed following the alleged incidents last Friday.
Mortified Michelle was full of remorse yesterday and begged authorities to show mercy.
She sobbed: “Because this is known everywhere they’re going to make an example of us and we’re going to get a higher sentence.
“We are in so much trouble and my family and everybody are affected. Until someone is in this situation they could never know what it’s like. It’s bad – it’s so, so bad.
“They are being pushed into a corner to make an example of us.
“I’m panicking – my mum is on anti-depressants. I can’t say anything else. I’ve got to go.
High-flyer Michelle is associate publisher for ITP, which produces more than 60 magazines serving the Middle East’s consumer, technology and business markets.
She was a regular at swish local parties.
Friday Brunches have become a favourite with Brits there – offering “all you can eat and drink deals for a set price.
A friend said last night: “Michelle’s a nice girl who’s made a very big mistake. God only knows how she must have felt when she sobered up.
“She went out with a group of friends and workmates to a champagne brunch party.
“The booze was flowing all day and she must have got carried away by the time she met Vince – a pal of one of her workmates.
“They went for a walk on the beach. They were pretty plastered and a cop found them having sex.
The friend added: “The jails out here have a terrible reputation and Michelle’s praying they go easy on her. But they seem under pressure to make her an example.
“Having sex in public here is taken very seriously. But it’s twice as serious if you’re not married. Westerners have flocked to Dubai, the Middle East’s glitziest playground, for fun and sun.
But officials have recently come under pressure to crack down on their visitors’ wilder antics. Beaches have become particularly sensitive areas, with moves to segregate families and single men.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “Two British nationals were arrested in Dubai. The case is currently under investigation.
You would think one warning would have been enough .
