DUBAI // A senior UK diplomat said yesterday that the investigation into the death of Lee Brown, the Briton who died in police custody, was continuing but he would not comment further on the case.
Robert Tinline, the director of consular services at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, is in the UAE on a three-day visit.
Yesterday, he visited Gems Academy in Al Barsha South, sitting in on a consular presentation to 16-year-old pupils on how to stay out of trouble with authorities - part of a nationwide drive to educate Britons about UAE laws.
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It follows last year's British Behaviour Abroad report, which found the UAE has the second highest arrest rate of Britons worldwide. It found that 265 Britons were arrested or detained in the year to April 1 last year. Figures for 2010-2011 will be released next month.
"When we see stats going up we try to do things to prevent those sorts of cases," said Mr Tinline. "Ideally we'd have 100 per cent of Brits not getting into trouble, but we're modest enough to know that there are a lot of variables. We don't have set targets."
The case of Britons Michelle Palmer and Vince Acors made headlines when they were convicted in 2008 of having sex on a beach in Dubai. They were sentenced to three months in jail but this was suspended on appeal and both were later deported.
Mandy Smith, the vice-consul in the assistance team at the British embassy in Dubai, warned the teenagers of the laws on alcohol, drugs and intimacy.
"We make the mistake of thinking it's just like home but that the sun is shining," she said. "It's important to be aware of the rules because we don't want British kids getting into trouble."
"This information is not only valid for British people, but also for other nationalities," said Henri Korpi, a 16-year-old Finn. "A lot of it I've heard before, but some of it was new to me."
The seminars have been arranged for several schools, for students and parents. Bill Turner, the vice principal of Gems Academy, described them as a "secondary service" for students.
"The kids don't get in trouble at school," he said. "It's basically to make sure they live happy and safe lives outside school.
"They're kids, they make the same mistakes as they do back at home. It's just here, the rules are a little different."
Lee Brown, 39, the Briton who died while under custody, was detained at Bur Dubai police station on April 6 after being accused of assaulting a maid at the Burj al Arab hotel.
His death on April 12 prompted an investigation by Dubai's attorney general. Two postmortem examinations in the emirate showed he died after choking on vomit.
A London coroner has launched a separate investigation, requesting all video footage from the police station, the hotel and a shop he visited, as well as the postmortem report and photographs of Brown's body in the cell.
Mr Tinline said he was aware of other allegations of mistreatment against Britons in custody, and that his office had a responsibility to investigate any such claims.
"Whenever there's an allegation of that, it's important for us to get to the bottom of it," he said. "Whenever a Brit is detained and wishes us to, we raise it with the local authorities.
"I would never compare cases, but there are other allegations of mistreatment," he said. "We have raised them previously with authorities."
During his visit, Mr Tinline will go to the Central Jail in Al Aweer, Dubai, to hear the concerns of several of the prison's 35 British inmates.
