- British tourist accused of being drunk and running naked through building
- Richard Stabler, 33, entered reception in only his underwear
- Stripped off in a 'naked protest' and was arrested in Dubai hotel
- He has admitted drinking alcohol but denies committing an indecent act
Surrounded by grinning, bikini-clad girls, Richard Stabler looks as though he is having the time of his life as an expatriate in Dubai.
But the high-flying British executive is about to be forced to swap the yacht for a prison cell – after falling foul of the country’s strict Islamic laws.
Company director Stabler, 33, has been sentenced to seven months in a Dubai jail and deportation thanks to an alcohol-fuelled argument that saw him streak naked through his apartment block.
Company director Richard Stabler, 33, who had been guzzling drinks at a pre-Christmas knees-up at the five star Le Meridien Mina Seyahi hotel when he got drunk and rowdy
Stabler started arguing with his friends, in a row that continued when the group got back to his upmarket beachside apartment on the Palm Jumeirah, the manmade island shaped like a palm tree
The businessman had polished off eight glasses of rum during a pre-Christmas knees-up at the five-star Le Meridien Mina Seyahi hotel when he started to fight with some of his friends.
The row continued when the group got back to his upmarket beachside apartment on the Palm Jumeirah – a manmade island shaped like a palm tree – and Stabler stripped off in what a court was later told was a ‘naked protest’.
A security guard from his building, who gave evidence at Dubai’s Court of Misdemeanours, said: ‘He was making noise and arguing with the other security guards when I came.
‘I called our control room to contact police and then followed him to the second floor where I found that he had taken off his underwear and stood there in the brightly lit corridor, completely naked.’
The guard claimed that Stabler – nicknamed ‘The Stabiliser’ by his friends – went on to walk through the apartment’s reception area wearing only his underwear.
When the guard tried to calm him down, Stabler pushed him to one side and ran up the stairs, where he proceeded to ‘cause chaos’, according to witnesses. Stabler – who has been running recruitment agency Binding Partnerships with fellow Briton James Binding for four years – was then said to have tried to hide behind a gate.
The 33-year-old British man has been jailed for running naked through the corridors of a building on the Palm Jumeirah (file picture)
The tourist was drinking at Le Meridien Mina Sey hotel (pictured) before returning to his accommodation on the Palm Jumeirah
He was eventually persuaded to come out and get dressed by police officers who arrived to arrest him half an hour later.
The court heard Stabler told police at the time: ‘I had eight glasses of rum and then left the hotel. I went to my building and then I can’t remember anything. I can’t remember if I stood naked or not.’
But he denied running through the corridor naked at his court hearing last week.
His lawyer Salha Khalifa said: ‘He was inside his apartment when police knocked on the door and was wearing white shorts.’ Stabler pleaded guilty to drinking alcohol without a licence but denied committing an indecent act in public.
Stabler had been arguing with the security guards for a while before he suddenly decided to take off his remaining clothes, causing him to be arrested
Stabler moved to Dubai in 2009 and has been co-running his company for nearly four years
He was not in court yesterday for the judgment, which was handed down as a written verdict from judge Adeel Abdelfatteh Jabreel.
While he managed to avoid the maximum penalty of three years in jail, the judge decided to sentence him to six months in jail for indecency and one month for drinking – a warning to British expatriates to observe the United Arab Emirates’ Islamic laws. Drinking alcohol carries a maximum jail term of up to six months, although judges recently have opted to issue fines.
Stabler studied at Rawlett Community Sports College in Staffordshire and has a degree in biological sciences from Manchester Metropolitan University.
He will be deported as soon as he has completed his sentence.
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