A British businesswoman is facing a possible six year sentence in a foreign jail after she was allegedly caught having sex on a beach in Dubai.
At first, I found myself feeling a bit sorry for 30-year-old Michelle Palmer, who got frisky with a British holidaymaker at a boozy champagne brunch and ended up getting charged with having sex outside marriage, indecent behaviour in public, being drunk in public and assaulting a police officer.
Now British ex-pats living in Dubai are ranting about her on blogs, and expressing their amazement that she has brazenly flouted the law.
Yes, she lived and worked in the notoriously strict state for three years, so she probably should have used better judgment. This was the UAE, not Ibiza. Whatever the result, this should definitely serve as a cautionary tale to women traveling abroad to know and respect the laws of your country of destination.
She acknowledges that she made a mistake, so I find myself hoping
that she gets off with a fine and a harsh warning.
Presumably she had sex with someone? A man perhaps? Why are the bloggers targeting her? Could it be that they blame her more because she's female?
Posted by: Tia | Thursday, 10 July 2008 at 11:25 AM
She should have known better, this sort of bhavior should not be acceptable, except maybe in the backyards of council housing estates or red light districts. Even prostitutes don't do this sort of thing in full public view!! She needs some time in isolation, but more importantly she needs to join AA.
Posted by: Martha | Thursday, 10 July 2008 at 11:36 AM
She's an absolute twit. How can she imagine that she can do things like that in public in an islamic country? Even if she is a bit squiffy, she has been .living and working there for a while now and she must have picked up a little of the local culture??!! I get so exasperated with people coming to live in a different culture then having absolutely no respect for it. Colonialism is dead. If you want to make money and have the good life as an expat, you must realise that there is a price to pay one way or another. I hope she serves as a warning to others.
Posted by: Alex | Thursday, 10 July 2008 at 11:56 AM
She has lived in Dubai for 3 years and worked in publishing, she drank a lot of champagne and was stupid with her actions. There is not a lot of sympathy going round for her considering she was given a warning to stop. I have to disagree about Dubai being a 'notoriously strict state' Expats enjoy a lot of freedom in Dubai, they can enjoy their religion freely, can drink alcohol in licensed places, of which there are thousands, can enjoy parties, drive as females etc. Dubai is a city in an Islamic country and all residents be them nationals or expatriates should abide by the rules as you would do in any other countries. She did not and is paying the price. She has brought shame to her family, her employees, but mostly to herself. Sorry for the long comment!
Posted by: Audrey | Thursday, 10 July 2008 at 02:27 PM
I would imagine being sc...in public would be an offence in any society, even our secular states.. or am I old fashioned and archaic!!!! Even in the nude beaches, i would imagine they would not perform the physical act itself... or , on the other hand maybe I a too protected!!! So it is not about an islamic country that we are dealing with, it is about pure ETHICS and MORALS. By the way, Dubai does not conform to an islamic country, I would qualify it more as secular, with some islamic tolerance!!!!
Posted by: nagila | Thursday, 10 July 2008 at 02:57 PM
The bit that get's me is....
She goes out on a mega booze up, gets lashed, takes this bloke down to the beach for a "bit of rumpety", the local plod comes along and gives them a ticking off, he then leaves only to return shortly to find that they are still "hard at it".
Now, I do think that they had the opportunity of a "gentle warning" which they chose to ignore and now are the laughing stock of the UK and in big trouble over there. Our cultural representitives!
Oh, I just want to see what reason that they give later in their divorce petition......
Posted by: Sympathy Si | Thursday, 10 July 2008 at 04:57 PM
^^^
I love the way you Brits use your slang!
"the local plod"
a "bit of rumpety"
love it!
Signed,
An Admiring American
Posted by: Billy T | Thursday, 10 July 2008 at 07:18 PM
The stupid little trollop. She lived there, so she knew the rules. No excuse. I hope she gets the full sentence.
As for the man involved, the same as well.
Tom
Posted by: Tom | Friday, 11 July 2008 at 01:40 AM
The twit and her cohort hammered another nail in the coffin of British respectability. They are a perfect example of the general impression I got while working with Brits abroad: both male and female were perpetually in search of the next drinking binge; the female usually had a circumference which wouldn't qualify her for high honours in a beauty contest; and although their morals resembled that of barnyard animals, both still managed to display an attitude with bordered on the 'uppity'. Not much to recommend here!
Posted by: Andrew | Friday, 11 July 2008 at 02:44 AM
This is not just about a frolic leading to arrest.
They were given a warning once by a passing copper, but continued after he'd left and then phsyically and verbally attacked him when he returned to find they'd ignored the initial warning.
No mitigating factors, AFAICS.
Posted by: Mike | Friday, 11 July 2008 at 06:16 AM
where is the problem?making love on the sand? life is short and without a bit of a provocation ,nineteen century values would be still on nowadays.
Posted by: charasson | Friday, 11 July 2008 at 09:47 AM
She's a pathetic little skank who's going to continue crying foul about whatever punishment she receives, depite the fact that she should most certainly have known bettter.
I actually hope she gets at least a few years. Except that then she'll be released and can sell her story to News of the World.
It really pisses me off. If she came across someone breaking a law in the UK when they'd been living there for 3 years, what do you suppose she would say?
Posted by: Nick | Tuesday, 15 July 2008 at 07:55 AM
Of course, if she'd done this in Iran she'd be a British national heroine, and our loudmouth Foreign Minister would be despatching gunboats to shell the city from coastal waters.
Britain - we love standards so much, we've got TWO of them!
Posted by: Neil McGowan | Tuesday, 15 July 2008 at 08:42 AM
"'ello, 'ello"?, said the local plod, but they were boozed up and in the throes of..... (Oh, I'm envious!)
And I'm annoyed that, though it takes two to tango, the passionate, obviously adept bloke is barely mentioned, while his fellow rampager is called a "trollop", a "skank", a "twit"and deserves the dungeon.
Sheesh, what a double standard!
Did she rape this overcoming beach stud, then? Did she have more long comings than his short comings?
Posted by: alison king | Wednesday, 16 July 2008 at 06:45 AM
This very stupid, I wish they hang her. She's a very bad example.
George
Posted by: George | Saturday, 14 March 2009 at 12:31 PM