DUBAI // A Briton, Steve Grant, who said he flew to Dubai to settle a family dispute five weeks ago, has been caught up in a legal dispute and now awaits a decision on when he will be allowed to leave the UAE.
The 58-year-old is no longer under house arrest while he awaits further details of the harassment charges against him, after travelling to make contact with his grandchildren.
Mr Grant’s passport is being held by prosecutors in Dubai while threats he allegedly made against the children’s Omani grandfather are investigated.
Mr Grant’s two grandchildren were taken in 2012 by their father, Usama Al Barwani, and flown to the UAE. The children, Aisha, 10, and Faris, 7, are in Oman with their paternal grandmother after their father allegedly took them from the UK without their mother’s approval.
Mr Grant, an engineer from Portsmouth, in southern England, flew to the UAE last month on his way to Oman to deliver a video message from his daughter, Lacey Plato, because, he said, the children had been without internet access since November.
He was arrested on arrival at Dubai airport and now stands accused of harassing the children’s Omani grandfather, Badar Mohammed Al Barwani, who lives in Dubai.
Speaking to media in the UK, Mr Grant said: “I travelled through Dubai because the flights are cheaper. But I was stopped at the airport and taken to a police station.”
The children’s grandfather lives in Dubai, said Mr Grant. He claimed that during negotiations between the two on the children’s future an argument ensued.
Mr Grant said Dubai police told him that he is alleged to have threatened the elder Mr Barwani.
“They have taken my passport away and I cannot leave until the case is resolved.”
A police officer at Al Rashidiya police station said Mr Grant was free to leave the house but he must remain in the UAE until the matter is resolved.
“Mr Grant has been seen and spoken to and everything is good now,” the officer said.
“He can leave where he is staying, only his passport is with the public prosecution department. There is no problem.
“He cannot leave the country yet but next week we will check again and give an update then.”
The family is at loggerheads as to who has custody of the children. Mr Al Barwani was held by police at Heathrow airport in London after he returned to the UK just before Christmas.
A UK court said he could be released if the children were returned. He is now in jail for contempt after defying a high court order to return the children
An international warrant was issued but could not be served in Oman as Interpol has no jurisdiction there.
Mr Grant said his lawyer advised him that his case is considered a minor offence, with a fine of about Dh1,700 expected.
In 2013, Mr Grant’s family called on British prime minister David Cameron to support their case and intervene. That appeal failed.
A British embassy spokeswoman in Dubai said: “We are aware of the arrest of a British national and we are providing consular assistance.”
nwebster@thenational.ae
