COUPLE FACE JAIL FOR LEWD BEHAVIOR ON BEACH

A 30-year-old British businesswoman and her lover are facing six years in prison after allegedly being caught twice having sex on Dubai’s Jumeirah beach. Michelle Palmer, a publishing assistant with magazine publisher ITP, and her partner, a British holidaymaker known only as Vince, were initially cautioned by police, but then arrested after being caught a second time the same evening. In a press statement, ITP said it had dismissed Palmer. After being stopped on the second occasion, Palmer apparently began a tirade of abuse against the officer, referring to his Muslim faith, and tried hitting him with her high-heeled shoe before being restrained. The couple have been charged with having sex outside marriage, indecent behavior in public, being drunk in public and assaulting a police officer. Following the arrest, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, chief of Dubai police, said the cases of public indecency in Dubai are isolated and not on the rise. In order to curb nudity in public, the Dubai Municipality recently took the decision to put large signs on Jumeirah open beach, Jumeirah Beach Park and Al-Mamzar Park warning women, particularly tourists, against topless bathing and indecent exposure.