A UK citizen has been sentenced to three months in jail in Dubai after āinsultingā airport staff who were slow to bring his mother a wheelchair.
The unnamed man was originally issued a Dh 10,000 (Ā£2,150) fine, but his appeal against this failed and his punishment was extended to a jail term on 6 November.
An airport employee told the court that the man swore at her after she had explained the airportās wheelchair policy to him, telling him that āa wheelchair would be made available before boarding the busā.
āWhen I tried to explain it to him, he insulted me using very bad language. I told the traveller that using such offensive language is not allowed at Dubai airport but he responded that he didnāt care.ā
The employee then called the police, and a case was filed against the man in Dubaiās Criminal Court. Following an appeal, which he lost, the fine was escalated into a jail sentence, followed by immediate deportation.
Pretty standard really. This is from the UK
I donāt know UK law, but Iād be surprised if that would be applied in a similar case. Maybe someone can educate me here and give examples of such rulings, but I feel like the wording is so vague and wide, that this very same law could be applied to wildly different and much more serious and alarming cases, entirely on a different level.
If getting frustrated and calling a service worker names in a single, non-recurring instance, warrants anything more than a small fine at the very worst in the UK, I will be very surprised. But Iām willing to accept thatās a thing there, just not convinced by that quote alone.
āPretty standard reallyā sounds very wild a statement, but then again, maybe UK is weird like that.
Edit: At this point Iām just very surprised to learn so many are of this opinion, so Iām just trying to get my bearings and understand if this is a common sentiment and way to look at things. Iād really like to know more if something like this truly is commonplace in a western country at this day and age.
At the end of the day people donāt go into work to feel threatened and scared for their safety.
Why the hell should people be allowed to do it? Iām surprised by the amount of people who think this is fine and shouldnāt be punished harshly tbh.
Well, I for one never said that itās okay. And it isnāt. But thereās a long gap between ānot fine, should have consequencesā to ā3 months in jailā.
Obviously people donāt go to work to get abused, I donāt think anyone claimed that. Itās hard to imagine anyone thinking that people should go to work to get abused. Thatās just a weird thing to say.