News: Canadian man to pay Dh3,000 in lieu of one month imprisonment for using the 'F' word

A director managed to have his one-month jail sentence scrapped and replaced by a Dh3,000 fine for swearing at an etisalat employee using the f-word.

The Dubai Appeal Court cancelled the imprisonment against the 43-year-old Canadian director and replaced it with the fine after contending that he told the Egyptian employee to f*** off and not f*** you.

The Dubai Misdemeanour Court had earlier convicted the Canadian of insulting the 29-year-old employee who claimed the defendant told him f*** you when the latter came to carry out a transaction at etisalat’s counter at Mirdif City Centre.

The appellate court reduced the imprisonment to a fine after the Canadian’s lawyer Uday Al Kazwini of Dar Al Balagh Advocates and Legal Consultants, argued that his client used a metaphorical expression when he said f*** off and not f*** you.

“F*** off is not an insult in Canada but f*** you is. The first phrase is commonly used when a person expresses himself/herself figuratively and asks another person, who angered them, to walk away,” defended Al Kazwini.

The director entered a not guilty plea claiming he did not have any criminal intention.

Records said the incident happened when the defendant went to check why he wasn’t receiving his bills.

“The claimant treated me with disrespect and in an unacceptable manner. I told him f*** off and not f*** you,” said the defendant.

The appellate ruling remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within 27 days.