Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
No 10 aide facing jail for swearing at driver
Locked up in Dubai over gesture
THESE brave men are dwarfed by a 60-ton whale as they cut it free from fishing ropes just weeks after a rescuer died doing the same thing.
They were forced to dodge the southern right whale’s tail several times off Cape Town, South Africa. But the members of the National Sea Rescue Institute succeeded in the end using specialist cutting gear. AN IT expert who works at 10 Downing Street could be jailed for “giving the finger” to a driver while on holiday.
Jamil Ahmed, 23, allegedly made the rude gesture after a local motorist cut in front of him on a motorway in Dubai.
He forgot the incident in February until last week – when he was arrested at Dubai airport as he and his wife arrived for another holiday.
Mr Ahmed spent two days in a jail cell and was forced to surrender his passport when he was released. He is trapped in the UAE while the authorities investigate his alleged “offensive or insulting behaviour”.
The charge is a public obscenity crime under local law and carries a maximum prison term of six months.
Mr Ahmed, of Leicester – who claims that he works at No10 – told the Mirror: “My wife has had to go home alone.
“She is so stressed and my family are really worried.”
He explained: “I was in the fast lane and this guy came right up my rear. I pulled over and he cut back in front of me. Then we were side-by-side and I must have stuck my finger up.
“His wife looked shocked… like I had committed a murder.”
A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: “We are assisting a British man who was detained in Dubai.” No10 has been contacted for comment.