Law firm employee has jail term reduced for sexually assaulting client

The man was sentenced in his absence which entitled him to a retrial

An employee at a law firm had his jail sentence reduced after sexually assaulting a client's wife two years ago.
Dubai Criminal Court initially sentenced the 39-year-old Egyptian to three years in jail followed by deportation in June last year.

As the man was sentenced in his absence, he was entitled to a retrial which he attended in August and denied charges of sexual assault and trespassing.
His victim, an Algerian woman, told prosecutors she contacted the law firm after her husband was detained for a bounced cheque. The defendant was assigned to the case and tasked with arranging a visit between her and her husband in jail.
"He started flirting, telling me how beautiful I was, and often told me to live my life and not waste it waiting for my imprisoned husband because he will be in jail for a long time," said the 32-year-old woman.
She told the court she asked him to stop and reminded him she was married but the man refused and often left her and her children gifts outside her house door.
She said he told her he was having marital problems and asked her to go out with him on Valentine's day.
"I didn't know what to do, I changed my phone number but he started calling the landline. I threatened to call police but he didn't stop, and when my husband got out of prison, I was scared to tell him," she said.
"On the day of the incident in February, the bell at my Mirdif home rang and I thought it was one of my kids because they were playing outside but when I opened up, it was him, he pushed me inside and started assaulting me," she said.
Records show that he touched her inappropriately and hugged her against her will. The woman screamed and resisted, injuring herself in the process.

She said she was too scared to tell police or her husband but when the man kept visiting her for nearly three months after the incident in her home, she went to police and reported him.
The defendant was convicted but during his retrial had his sentenced reduced from three years to three months in prison, followed by deportation.