Verdict in Dubai 'sex on the beach' trial due Oct 16

AFP, October, 2008

DUBAI (AFP) — A Dubai court will deliver its verdict on two Britons accused of having sex on a beach in the booming Gulf emirate on October 16, legal sources said on Tuesday.

A hearing in the trial of Michelle Palmer, 37, and Vince Acors, 34, did not take place as scheduled on Tuesday, and sources at the Dubai court and the public prosecution said the case has been adjourned pending the verdict.

It was not clear why the hearing was called off. The pair's defence lawyer was not immediately reachable for comment.

The trial has received extensive coverage in the British media, but the case is seen as embarrassing in the Gulf emirate, which despite hosting hundreds of thousands of Western residents and tourists, adheres to Islamic rules banning sex outside marriage.

Palmer, a publishing executive who has been sacked from her job, and Acors, a visitor to ...