Abu Dhabi police arrest British man for ‘insulting UAE’ after delayed flight

ABU DHABI // Police have arrested a British man whom they accuse of “verbally” assaulting security officers and an airport officer, as well as insulting the UAE.

Abu Dhabi Police said the man insulted the country last week because his flight from London Heathrow was late and he was unable to catch his connecting flight to India.

Lt Col Fares Al Bakeri, of Abu Dhabi CID, who led the investigation, claimed the man “began to verbally abuse employees and declined to make room for other passengers, insisting on catching his plane” after the boarding gate closed and the plane was about to take off.

Two security officers asked the passenger to sit and be patient while they found a way to help him, police said. “He insulted them using foul language and behaved arrogantly, warning that he holds a British passport,” police said.

The passenger has denied the charges, police said, saying that he did not recognise the identity of the security officers, who wore name tags in English and Arabic.

“The passenger claims he wasn’t addressing his insults at anyone, but rather lamenting his bad luck,” police said.