Dubai boy, 17, on drink-drive charge

A 17-year-old stole his father's car and drove drunkenly down Sheikh Zayed Road with his head sticking out of the window, a court has heard.

DUBAI // A 17-year-old stole his father's car and drove drunkenly down Sheikh Zayed Road with his head sticking out of the window, a court heard this week.

Prosecutors told the Family and Juvenile Court that SD, a student from Ireland, waited for his parents to fall asleep on May 28 this year before taking his father's car keys and driving off from a Palm Jumeirah car park.

A police patrol saw the boy driving opposite the Palm Kempinski Hotel at about 4.30am. The officers stopped the boy and arrested him when he could not produce a driving licence.

"It's true, I was sticking my head outside the window as I drove the car," the boy admitted.

He said he took the keys about midnight after his father went to bed, then drove around with some friends.

"[My father] did not know I was driving his car and he did not allow me to do so," he said.

The boy admitted to drinking alcohol, but claimed he had "only a small glass of vodka".

His father, 44, who works with a local airline, said he went to sleep about 10.00the night before his son was picked up.

"At 5.30am the maid knocked on the bedroom door and told me that my son had informed her he was arrested," he said.

"I don't allow him to drive because he has no licence."

The boy faces charges of driving without a licence, driving under the influence of alcohol, driving a car with expired registration, and stealing a car.He was placed under judicial supervision.