Skyscraper daredevil ‘arrested’ for climbing Dubai high-rise

Free climber James Kingston announced his arrest by Dubai CID on Twitter after filming himself climbing cranes and other buildings in the city.

Harry Gallagher’s Dubai footage is the latest posted on social media to raise concerns about lack of security in some of the emirate’s tallest buildings. Courtesy @Nightscapeldn

DUBAI // A man has been arrested for scaling high-rises in the city.

James Kingston announced his arrest by Dubai CID on Twitter after filming himself climbing cranes and other buildings in the emirate.

However, another man who posted footage from a skyscraper roof in Business Bay has escaped legal action and has returned to the UK.

Mr Kingston, who was given a warning by authorities after visiting the emirate in 2014 to climb the under-construction Marina 101 tower, claimed to have been arrested by CID on Saturday.

“Four undercover agents plucked me from my hotel room earlier today with no warning,” he tweeted.

Another so-called urban explorer from Britain, teenager Harry Gallagher, who uses the pseudonym NightScape, is back in the UK and posted two similar videos on social media over the weekend.

One short film shows him breaking into an abandoned water park in Dubai and dodging security teams, while another documents his attempt to access the roof of Vision Tower in Business Bay to take photographs of Burj Khalifa.

The 19-year-old posted his first video of the Dubai skyline on Friday. It has since been re-tweeted more than 70 times and attracted more than 250 favourites.

Although escaping arrest in Dubai, Metropolitan Police in London are investigating footage of him climbing 800ft to the top of One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, according to The Telegraph newspaper.

The teenager's Dubai footage is the latest posted on social media to raise concerns about lack of security in some of the emirate's tallest buildings. Photographs showing Russian model Viktoria Odintcova hanging precariously from the 73-storey Cayan Tower in Dubai Marina were also posted online in February.

Dubai Police said: “It is important for residents to avoid practising dangerous hobbies without taking necessary precautions or obtaining prior permission from authorities”.

Brig Salim Al Rumaithi, director of CID, said “the daredevil was taken in for questioning because he violated UAE law”.

“An individual who performs stunts and climbs on towers could face prosecution for endangering his life and other people’s lives, given that he might fall on a pedestrian under the building,” he said.

Neither Mr Gallagher or Mr Kingston have responded to The National for comment.