A British tourist visiting Dubai is facing six months in prison after allegedly flicking his middle finger at a motorist who was tailgating him.
Jamil Mukadam, 23, who owns an IT company and claims to work at Number 10, was in Dubai along with his wife in February when the alleged incident occurred.
Mr Mukadam, who is from Leicester, was arrested when he returned to Dubai earlier this month.
Jamil Mukadam, pictured, was arrested after returning to Dubai over an alleged road rage incident during a previous visit to the UAE in February when he was driving a hire car
Mr Mukadam said he was going to the airport with his wife when someone started tailgating him prompting him to flick his finger at the other motorist who reported it to police
When Mr Mukadam returned to Dubai earlier this month, he was arrested at passport control
Mr Mukadam was driving a hire car in the city when the alleged incident happened.
He claimed he had been placed in a cell with rapists and murderers before being released on bail.
Mr Mukadam, from Leicester, told the Sun that he had made the rude gesture to a driver who tailgated him and started flashing his lights, and ‘thought nothing more of it’.
He told the newspaper: ‘It’s the kind of thing that happens in England all the time. You don’t go to jail for it.
‘When I came back last week for a holiday with my wife I went through passport control in Dubai and when they took a scan it started beeping loudly.
‘Within seconds I was surrounded by police and taken off to jail.’
Radha Stirling of law firm Stirling Haigh, who is assisting Mr Mukadam via the Detained in Dubai organisation, told the Sun offensive or insulting behaviour was illegal there.
She added: ‘We have dealt with a number of cases where traffic frustration has led to detention.
‘We caution visitors and expats that they could face criminal charges for behaviour that would be common in their own countries.
‘We hope that the courts in Dubai are lenient with their sentencing and issue a fine at worst.’
Mr Mukadam, who works for the UK government, is facing jail over the road rage incident
Mr Mukadam is the latest Briton to fall ful of the law in Dubai.
In May 2011 top UK surgeon Joseph Nunoo-Mensah was detained in Dubai after being accused of a making a rude gesture at another driver through the window of his car.
The consultant colorectal surgeon at King’s College Hospital – who said he merely raised his hand – had his passport confiscated when he was charged with ‘public indecency’. He was later released after paying a fine.
According to data released by the Foreign Office (FCO) in September under freedom of information (FOI) laws, the city-state was the destination with the second highest number of Britons detained between 2015 and the summer.
At 524 it was behind Alicante (655) but ahead of Bangkok (454), Miami (445) and Malaga (441).
A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘We are assisting a British man who was detained in Dubai and remain in contact with the local authorities.’