Briton in Dubai sex on the beach case originally admitted charge but changed his account, court told

A British man facing jail for having sex on a Dubai beach admitted the offence before later changing his account, prosecutors said today.

Tourist Vince Acors, 34, initially told police he had full intercourse with fellow Briton Michelle Palmer, 36.

But he later strayed from his first statement and denied the crime, senior prosecutor Faisal Abdelmalek Ahli said.

Facing jail:  Vince Acors allegedly had sex with fellow Briton Michelle Palmer

Publishing executive Miss Palmer and Mr Acors were seen on a beach near the luxury Burj Al Arab hotel in the early hours of July 5.

Mr Ahli, of the Dubai Public Prosecution, said he was confident of proving the pair had sex.

‘We have a very strong case,’ he said today.

‘We have DNA, medical reports and eyewitnesses. We also have his (Mr Acors) first statement, in which he admitted having sex with Michelle Palmer. He later denied this.’

Miss Palmer and Mr Acors, who are both on bail in Dubai, deny charges of public indecency and having unmarried sex but admit consuming alcohol.

They are due to appear before Dubai’s Court of First Instance tomorrow.

In a statement to the court at a previous hearing, Miss Palmer, of from Oakham, Leicestershire, said: ‘We were just kissing and hugging. We didn’t have sex together. I was lying on top of him.

‘I have been in Dubai for two-and-a-half years without committing any kind of offence. I’m sorry.’

Mr Ahli denied reports that they could face a maximum six-year sentence.

Luxury: The Burj Al Arab hotel beach where the pair allegedly had sex

He said they were likely to be jailed for between six months and a year if found guilty, as well as being fined and deported.

Prosecutors said witnesses saw the couple cuddling for about 10 minutes on Jumeirah Beach before a police officer arrived at about 1am.

They had met earlier at a champagne brunch at the Le Meridien Hotel, close to Dubai Airport.

One of the witnesses, a 21-year-old Palestinian man, said: ‘I was with my friends on the beach when I saw the couple get out of a taxi and start kissing each other.

‘The man lay on his back and she was on top of him. She took off her shirt and they started to have sex.’

Mr Ahli said the police officer who arrested the pair had described seeing Miss Palmer with her ‘shirt off’ and ‘sitting on’ Mr Acors from Bromley, southeast London.

‘Their voices were excited,’ the officer said.

‘He was kissing and playing with her chest.’

He said the couple had not noticed him until he shone his torch in their direction.

The couple have been listed to appear before Judge Hamad Abdul Latif in Chamber 17 of the Dubai court.

Meanwhile, it was reported that two women convicted in May of kissing and cuddling on a public beach in Dubai were jailed for a month.

A Lebanese woman, 30, and a Bulgarian woman, 36, had their sentences and deportation confirmed yesterday by the Dubai Court of Appeal, The National newspaper, based in Abu Dhabi, said.

They had denied charges of intimate behaviour, kissing, cuddling and sleeping on top of each other, according to the newspaper.

Homosexuality and public displays of affection are illegal in Dubai.