Dubai banker fined for insulting coast guard officers

A fisherman has been fined Dhs5,000 after being found guilty of insulting Dubai coast guard officers when they told him to follow them back to shore.

The 48-year-old was convicted at Dubai Court of Misdeamours on Sunday of lifting his feet towards the officers and deliberately delaying his return to shore.

He was found not guilty of fishing illegally.

Official records state that in February the coast guard received a call from Dubai Police about a man fishing off his yacht in an un-authorised spot near Palm Jebel Ali and annoying other sea users. A coast guard boat went to the area and saw the British defendant fishing.

A 35-year-old Emirati coast guard official stated: “We checked on the boat’s plate number which was hidden so we asked him to follow us to our department and he started slowing down. When we asked him to speed up, he lifted his foot in our faces and claimed that the engine was too hot so he couldn’t speed up.

“When we arrived near the coast, he started speeding.

It took us three and a half hours to reach the coast when it should take 30 minutes in normal speed. The distance was 16 miles. He was even eating and drinking tea while we were asking him to speed.” The defendant claimed that he took his yacht from Dubai Marina heading to Palm Jebel Ali when he saw a boat carrying two Arabic men who asked him to leave.

“I took a picture of them using my phone and they left,” the British man stated in records. “I was catching a fish when the coast guard came. They asked me to follow them and I told them that I have little fuel. I was slowing down as I was contacting my lawyer because I didn’t know what I did wrong.”

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