Student in Dubai cleared of posing as member of royal family to escape traffic fine

DUBAI // A student has been cleared of pretending to be a member of the Dubai royal family to escape a fine for having illegally tinted windows on his 4x4.

Dubai Police traffic patrol spotted a G-Class Mercedes-Benz at around midnight on July 22 last year parked in front of a supermarket in Jumeirah and approached its Emirati driver to issue a ticket.

“I asked him for the car’s ownership card and he handed me one with the name of member of royalty on it,” said an Emirati policeman, 26.

When he asked the driver his name the student said his name was on the card, the officer told Dubai Criminal Court.

“I asked him for his driving licence and he told me he forgot it in his other car,” added the officer, who called colleagues for confirmation of the driver’s identity.

“When a patrol arrived, he denied he ever told me he was the sheikh whose name was on the card,” the policeman said.

“We asked him to tell the truth about his identity or we would refer him to the police station, so he insisted on saying he was the sheikh and that he has no problem with going to the station but when another patrol arrived, he changed his story and stated his real name,” testified a 24-year-old police officer.

The 30-year-old student was charged with using an official document as his own and impersonating a member of the royal family, which he denied.

He told judges that he handed police the car’s ownership card with the sheikh’s name on it but did not say that he was the sheikh.

On Thursday he was acquitted by the court.