An employee, who impersonated a policeman when he stopped two promo girls driving a Red Bull marketing car at Jumeirah Beach Residence, was sentenced to a month in jail on Tuesday.

The Swiss and German promo girls were driving a Red Bull’s promotional and marketing Mini Cooper at Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) when the British employee drove his pickup car behind them and flashed for them to pull over in March.

Following a quick chat about the speed at which the girls had been driving, the Swiss and German girls suspected that the Briton’s claim of being a policeman, and asked him to present his ID card again.

He did not and walked away.

The girls complained to the police who summoned the Briton for questioning, during which the employee said the girl driving the Mini Cooper was the one who had smiled to him and asked him to follow her.

Prosecutors accused the employee of impersonating a policeman.

The defendant pleaded not guilty when he showed up before the Dubai Misdemeanours Court contending that the Swiss girl had stopped him.

His lawyer Yousuf Al Beloushi, of Bin Suwaidan Advocates and Legal Consultants, told Gulf News that he appealed Tuesday’s judgement before the Appeal Court that convenes in September.

Al Beloushi argued before the court: “My client did not commit any act that is punishable by law. He did not pretend or behave in any way that would make the girls conclude that he is a policeman. He stopped them at JBR to speak to them and befriend them. The girls’ claim that he said he is a policeman was unfounded and baseless … prosecutors based their accusation on the girls’ verbal evidence. But the case file lacked any materialistic evidence to indict my client.”

The lawyer further defended before the presiding judge that it was the promo girls who stopped the Briton and asked to chat with him.

“My client was just trying to be friends with them and did not have any bad intention … but because the context of the conversation between them took a different path, a misunderstanding happened between them. Besides, he did not have any criminal intent,” defended Al Beloushi.

During police questioning, the German girl testified that the defendant stopped them at 10.30pm on the road side.

“He showed us an ID quickly and put it back in his pocket before he said he is a policeman. He asked my co-worker why she had been speeding … but she told him she was not. Then he claimed to her that she changed her lane without signalling. He asked her for her papers … before he put his head close to the window and said I should smile. I asked him why I should smile for him and I don’t know him. I gave him my ID when he asked me to do so. Then he looked at me and said ‘You are German … so that’s why you are not smiling!’ We spoke to him respectfully and were not rude,” she claimed.

Meanwhile, the Briton was quoted as telling prosecutors that the Swiss girl [who was driving] was the one who asked him to stop.

According to Tuesday’s ruling, the defendant will be deported after serving his punishment.

Source: gulfnews.com