UK construction boss jailed for adultery in Dubai

A construction manager has been jailed for two months in Dubai for committing adultery.

Mark Hawkins of Manchester was jailed with Sally Antia and the pair will be deported after serving their sentence.

The Times said they will be released in four weeks' time, after the judge took into account the one month they have already spent in custody.

Hawkins’s lawyer said his client was pleased with the sentence, which would allow them to return home soon.

It is understood that Antia’s husband, Vincent, also believed to be British, had informed police in Dubai of his wife's relationship with Hawkins. Divorce proceedings are under way between the couple.

Antia wrote recently on her page on the networking website Friends Reunited: "Living in Dubai for the last 12 years. Married with two girls now aged 11 and 13. Enjoying the sunshine, but often home to watch a match. Massive Red fan. Happy and healthy ... what more can you ask for?"

Her detention will prompt criticism from those who reject the United Arab Emirates’s practice of combining civil and criminal law with Sharia, which is identified in the constitution as the main source of legislation. Social laws, such as family law and succession, all fall under its direct influence, making adultery illegal in the UAE. The maximum punishment is a year in jail followed by deportation.

Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK Director, said the pair should not have been arrested and did not deserve to be imprisoned. "Sally and Mark should not be in jail right now and should never have been facing criminal charges in the first place," she said. "Quite simply, the sex lives of consenting adults shouldn’t be a criminal matter. Sally and Mark should be released, immediately and unconditionally."