Originally published 9 April 2013;
When Rebecca Blake was offered a £100k recruitment job in Dubai, she couldn’t believe her luck.
But within eight months her dream had become a nightmare when she was thrown into jail.
Rebecca was arrested last May after a taxi driver reported her for being drunk, naked and having sex in the back of his cab with her friend, Irish welder Conor McRedmond, 28.
The 30 year old, from Dorking, Surrey, was locked up for five days for the “crime” – she’s just one of a string of Brits charged in recent years with flouting “indecency” laws in Dubai.
Despite DNA evidence proving Rebecca hadn’t had sex that night, both she and Conor were convicted last November and given three-month prison sentences. They both appealed against their convictions – meaning her jail term was postponed indefinitely.
'I don’t like going out here because people who recognise me shout at me and hassle me. I’m rotting, it’s hell.'
Now Rebecca tells Closer her life is hell because she lost her job after she was charged and can’t get another as the authorities have taken her passport. She also had to leave her shared flat because the press surrounding her case worried her male flatmates.
She’s sleeping on friends’ sofas and living off what little savings she has left. So she’s begging for her appeal to be dropped so she can serve her original sentence, then be deported back to the UK – rather than wait another six months for her appeal to be heard.
Rebecca says: “I don’t like going out here because people who recognise me shout at me and hassle me. I’m rotting, it’s hell. I’m going insane – I need my life back. I may as well let them lock me up if it means I can get home sooner. But I’m terrified.
After my arrest, I shared a cell with seven women and two babies. I know I might not even get a mattress on the floor and they don’t have pillows or sheets.
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“I’ll only be allowed outside for 30 minutes every three days and the food will probably be mushy lentils for breakfast and rice and fish paste for dinner.
Fresh water is in short supply and the toilet is a hole in the floor.
I feel like I’m stuck in some awful movie… I’m innocent and the evidence proves it, but I can’t keep fighting. Going back to prison isn’t me saying I’m guilty – I’ve just had enough and want to go home.”
'I shared a cell with seven women and two babies'
Rebecca is still friends with Conor – who’s held on to his construction job while he awaits his appeal hearing. She admits she’d been drinking on the night of the incident – but that’s all.
“Me and Conor had been drinking with friends at an all-day party, but I wasn’t drunk. We argued with the taxi driver for taking us home via a long route,” she says.
“Then he refused to take us anywhere and dropped us at a police station. I was breathalysed, then separated from Conor and forced into a police van and taken to prison.
“I started screaming and having a panic attack.
I shouted: ‘What am I here for?’ A prison officer shouted back: ‘Drinking, drinking, drinking!’ I’ve since learnt you’re supposed to have a licence to consume alcohol in Dubai, which few people are aware of.”
The following morning, Rebecca was informed of the serious sex allegations against her and faced an “intrusive” DNA test by a doctor.
She recalls: “I broke down, it was horrific. I pleaded innocence but no one listened. I hardly slept or ate.”
She was held for five days, before her lawyer arranged bail.
Two weeks later, test results confirmed Rebecca hadn’t had sex, but the charges against her weren’t dropped – she has no idea why. She says: “I lost everything. My parents were distraught.”
'I’m scared of prison but, if it means I can start living again sooner, I want to go'
In November 2012, Rebecca, who pleaded guilty to drinking but denied the other offences, was found guilty of all of them and sentenced to three months in prison. She appealed and although her sentence was reduced to two months, she failed to get her conviction quashed.
Her second appeal won’t be heard for another six months and Rebecca – whose parents have been to visit her – says she’d rather face prison now so she can get home quicker.
She hopes to be jailed again this week.
She reveals: “Friends and family are looking after me but I feel very depressed. I’m scared of prison but, if it means I can start living again sooner, I want to go.”