FREED Jamie Harron enjoyed an emotional reunion with his mother Patricia at Glasgow Airport last night after the threat of a three month jail sentence in Dubai was lifted.
Mr Harron, 27, of Stirling told her he loved her as they hugged after an intervention by the gulf state's ruler set him free following his conviction for public indecency on Sunday.
The electrician, who had accidentally touched a man's hip, told reporters: "I kept positive all the way through it because I couldn't believe it [had] happened."
He said: "I think it was a bad situation, to be honest. I didn't see the light at the end of the tunnel."
Mr Harron attacked the country’s legal system, describing the case against him as a ‘shambles from the word go’ and admitted he feared he would spend the full term in prison.
"I still couldn't believe it had actually happened and what it was that was going on.
"Even now that I'm actually home, I still can't believe that it was actually three and a half months.
"I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep in my bed cause I was sleeping on my mate's couch.
Jamie, who worked as an electrician in Afghanistan, said his ordeal began during a two-day stopover in the United Arab Emirates on 15 July.
He was spending time with friends at a popular bar when he touched German businessman Emad Tabaza, claiming he was trying to avoid spilling drinks.
But Tabaza called the police and claimed Jamie had been "very drunk" and "repeatedly" touched him.
The businessman, managing director of engineering firm Neuman &Esser, later dropped the charge against Jamie but prosecutors went ahead with the case.
Jamie spent a week in jail and was later sentenced to a month in prison and fined 2,000 dirhams (£412) but released on bail.
He was then sentenced to another three months in jail on Sunday before the Sheikh intervened.
Campaigners said he ordered the charges to be dropped "because of so much international pressure and the fact it [the case] was affecting their tourism".
"The full thing's just mental."
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