Prosecutor’s office concludes woman who said she was attacked by two men had consensual sex

A British woman charged with having extramarital sex in Dubai after claiming she was raped no longer faces legal proceedings after the case against her was dropped.

The 25-year-old tourist from Cheshire said she was attacked by two men while on holiday in the United Arab Emirates and reported the incident to police. Officers charged her with extramarital sex and confiscated her passport.

The office of the Dubai public prosecutor said that after “careful examination of all evidence”, including a review of statements given by the British woman, the two male suspects and investigating police officers, it concluded the woman had had consensual sex.

“A video obtained from the mobile phone of one of the suspects detailing the act was a key evidence that supported this conclusion,” it said in a statement, adding that legal proceedings would not continue against any of those involved.

The woman reported the alleged rape at al-Barsha police station in October and the suspects, who have been named as David Butlin, 22, and Louis Harris, 24, were arrested and questioned. All three people were later released on bail.

“Dubai’s legal system takes reports of all crimes very seriously, including and especially violence against women, and conducts thorough investigations of all incidents,” said the prosecutor’s office.

“Following the closure of the case, all three parties involved in the case are in the process of receiving their passports and are free to leave the UAE.”

The family of the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, set up fundraising pages online to cover her legal fees. They raised more than £30,000 by Tuesday night.



A statement on a Facebook page set up in her support said the woman had not had confirmation about the charges being dropped and that her passport had not been released to her.

“The family are eagerly anticipating news and praying that the reports are true. As soon as we have any knowledge we will update,” it said. “Please keep [the woman] and her family in your thoughts.”

Detained in Dubai, a UK-based organisation of UAE legal experts, welcomed the decision to drop the charges and said that international outrage over the case had probably influenced the decision.

The group said: “Others in the past have not been so fortunate, but we hope that this landmarks a fresh approach to similar cases in the future and recommend that authorities be properly trained on how to treat potential victims of crime.”

The organisation said that since the case emerged it had received daily queries from people in the UAE who had not reported crime for fear of being charged with another crime.

“The UAE needs to further develop their enforcement policies so that people feel comfortable to report crime, knowing that they will not become a victim of injustice themselves,” it said.

A spokesman at World Centre Advocates and Legal Consultants, the Dubai law firm acting for the two men accused of rape, said they had not had any confirmation that the charges were dropped.

He said the allegations against the men were “categorically incorrect and false”, adding: “As we have learned from biggest democracies in the world that respecting the law of [the] state is duty [of] all members of the community … The United Arab Emirates is a country of law, and we confirm the principal of the rule of law.”



