DUBAI // A housewife has been jailed for a month for swearing at a policeman.

American S N, 34, demanded the officer, who was attending a traffic accident, move his patrol car and told him to “shut up” when he told her to wait. She also swore at him before driving off.

She was arrested at the airport the next morning while trying to leave the country.

The policeman, M S, 24, was blocking traffic on Al Sufouh Road on March 23 so an ambulance crew could treat people injured in a pile-up.

“The woman came up to me and asked me to allow her through to the service road because it leads to her building,” he said.

He told her she could not pass because the ambulance staff were still working.

“I told her she could drive on the pavement or wait for a few minutes until the rescuers finished their job,” the officer said.

He suggested she drive to the other end of the road but she dismissed the idea.

“She demanded that I move the patrol car. I said to her, ‘Shall I put them [the cars] on my head?’ She said, ‘Yes, put them on your head so I can pass’,” he said.

The woman then started screaming and shouting at him.

“I asked her to calm down and respect me as a police officer doing his job but instead she insulted me as she drove away,” he said.

The woman said her ill son had been in the back of her car and that she had been stuck in traffic for more than half an hour.

“I didn’t insult him but I was upset and used a loud voice because I had waited too long,” she said.

The Misdemeanours Court found her guilty of insulting a public official.

salamir@thenational.ae