SCOT Jamie Harron will spend the next three months in a prison in Dubai after he was found guilty of breaking strict public indecency laws for touching a man’s hip in a bar.

The 27-year-old electrician from Stirling, was arrested in July over the incident at the Rockbottom Bar.

Harron, who had been working in Afghanistan and was on a two-day stopover in the United Arab Emirates at the time, said he touched the other man to steady himself and avoid spilling a drink.

German businessman, Emad Tabaza, had called the police, claiming the Scot had been “very drunk” and “repeatedly” touched him on the thigh.

Tabaza, the managing director of global technology firm Neuman & Esser, tried to drop the charges after he realised how severe Harron’s punishment might be.

A spokesperson for his company said: “With a certain distance from the incident and the punishment to be expected for the suspect, our employee decided to withdraw the complaint despite the harassment having been confirmed by several witnesses.

“However, according to the typical laws for the country, this does not automatically result in the termination of the proceedings as, for example, very likely in England or Germany.”

Harron was initially jailed for five days and then released on bail with his passport confiscated.

His family have reportedly spent over £32,000 in expenses and legal fees trying to resolve the matter.

Campaign group Detained in Dubai (DiD), who have been supporting the engineer, were at his trial yesterday.

The group said Harron is “angry, disappointed, and dreads what may happen next”.

He was not in court yesterday, and is not currently in custody while the appeal is considered, DiD chief executive Radha Stirling said.

Harron has already been sentenced in absentia to 30 days in prison for failing to appear at a court hearing for making a rude gesture and drinking alcohol during the same July incident.

Tourists who consume alcohol at licensed venues in Dubai can be arrested for having alcohol in their system.

However, DiD say the engineer had only three beers, they refute Tabaza’s claims and say the Scot plans on taking legal action against the German when he returns to the UK..

Stirling said Harron had “suffered tremendously.”

“Now Jamie has been sentenced to three months; there is no telling whether a judgement on appeal will be better or worse.

“He has already suffered tremendously as a result of these allegations, and now faces the likelihood of incarceration.

“His family was unable to visit him during this critical time because they faced a very real risk of imprisonment themselves under the UAE’s cyber crime laws which forbid criticism of the government.

“At this point, Jamie will definitely be pursuing civil action against his accusers when he does eventually return home, as it appears that he will not be able to find justice in the UAE.”

She added: “He feels betrayed and exploited by the system, which did not investigate the reports of key witnesses in his defence and led him to believe that the case would be dropped.”

Previously Harron said the situation had left him in shock.

“My lawyers have put an objection in on my 30-day prison sentence issued by my absentia that me and my lawyer didn’t even know about in the first place.

“I hope that it can be sorted out but I already didn’t think it would have went on for so many months in the first place. I’ve lost my job, I’m in debt now, I may be going to prison and all this for a two-day stopover.

“It’s just unbelievable. I’m still in shock that it’s actually happened.”

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: “We have been in contact with a British man following his arrest in Dubai in July”.