Brit, 21, facing Dubai jail after ‘throwing businessman’s glasses in bin’ begs him to drop charges
Asa Hutchinson, 21, was left to face the music by her boyfriend after he and his pals posed for selfies with a sleeping drunk who woke up in a rage
A BRIT facing jail in Dubai after a bust-up over a selfie she did not take has begged her accuser to drop the charges against her.
Asa Hutchinson, 21, was arrested after her boyfriend and his pals got into a fight with a drunk businessman after snapping selfies - but she insists all she did was pick up some glasses from the floor and put them in a bin.
The terrified Brit, who has been charged with assault and theft, said she "couldn't cope" behind bars.
Speaking today she said: "I appeal to the man prosecuting to drop the charges.
"If you feel someone has wronged you, it really wasn't me.
"My friends leaving the country only affects me because this man has now decided to charge me instead."
Asa continued: "I really don't feel like I have done anything to deserve being charged.
"I love my life in Dubai and want to stay here. I have tried to reason with the man because I'm so worried, but it has fallen on deaf ears.
"He only wants to prosecute, and the guys who actually did it are not here, which has left me in the firing line."
Asa's dad has accused the businessman of "picking on" his daughter after the group of lads fled while mum Lucie, 51, insisted Asa is "absolutely and completely innocent".
Asa claims she wasn't with her friends when the row broke out but returned to the hotel lobby after hearing a commotion.
Lucie told the Daily Mail her daughter had picked up the glasses and put them in a bin because she was worried someone would stand on them.
By the time cops had arrived the lads had fled. They later jetted back to the UK.
Dad Iain said: "This older guy was the one hitting everyone, he ought to know better at his age than getting into drunken fights with kids.
"And now he can't throw his weight around and get them into trouble, he is picking on my young daughter."
Lucie added: “She’s taking the rap because in Dubai they can charge people by association. Ben and his mates came back and he’s probably safe back home watching daytime TV now — while Asa’s stuck out there. She’s in bits.”
Asa was horrified to find herself under arrest after the fracas in a country where taking snaps without an individual’s consent is illegal.
Terrified Asa, from Brentwood, Essex — an accounts manager for a transport company — said: “I can’t go to jail. I couldn’t cope."
Boyfriend Ben Hall, 26, a computer programmer who lives in Manchester, has declined to comment.
The dust-up happened after his mum, who was celebrating her 50th birthday, flew out to join him and his friends in Dubai.
The pranksters were leaving a bar called Dusty’s when they spotted the Swede, a tech company boss, asleep.
Convent school-educated Asa said: “The man woke up and began punching the boys.
“I heard the commotion and came back to see what was going on.
“I was not involved, I just happened to be there. But the police are not interested in anything I say.”
A legal expert said it probably does not matter that the Swede was the one who was violent.
Radha Stirling, whose organisation Detained In Dubai has taken up Asa’s case, said: “If two parties are in dispute or arguing, the first person to speak to the police is usually the one who is believed.
“Often it’s a race to get to police first. By making this complaint, the man may have been safeguarding himself from being charged.”
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Asa saw the accuser’s specs on the floor so picked them up and put them aside for safety. She was stunned to be told she now also faces a charge of stealing them.
Her nightmare comes after Brit Jamie Harron, 27, got three months in jail after he accidentally touched a German businessman’s hip as he battled to avoid spilling his drinks.
The electrician had his passport confiscated in July and spent thousands battling the trumped-up charge. He was finally freed by a royal decree.
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