Prison term dropped for Scottish man in Dubai bar dispute

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A three-month prison sentence has been dropped for a Scottish man over touching another man’s buttocks in a dispute at a Dubai bar, an activist group says.

Radha Stirling of Detained in Dubai says Jamie Harron’s passport was returned by police on Monday and that he was planning to leave the sheikhdom soon. The decision came only days after a Dubai court ordered 27-year-old Harron imprisoned over the incident.

Stirling says she believed a decree from Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, had resolved the case.

Harron was accused by another man of sexual assault for touching his buttocks during a dispute at the bar in July. One of Harron’s friends, British national James Allen, 37, who lives in Dubai, told prosecutors that the Scotsman bumped into the accuser’s arm by accident, sparking the argument, according to court documents.

Harron’s accuser told authorities that the Scotsman had come from behind and hit him on the buttocks while drunk, according to court documents. The accuser said Harron “laughed” when he asked why he did it and later gave him the finger before police arrived.

He said Harron apologized to the accuser and “placed his hand on the side of his buttocks as a way of apologizing,” according to court papers.

— AP