UK flight attendant in Dubai suspended for issuing bad cheque

The woman says she wrote the cheque in response to the threats of her abusive husband.

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DUBAI // A British flight attendant forced into writing a bad cheque by her physically abusive husband has been fined Dh10,000 and given a suspended one-month prison sentence.

The husband of CM, 33, beat her up and banged her head on the wall before demanding she write him a cheque for Dh95,000. The pair had been talking about separating and he demanded she repay him the money he spent on school fees for her children from a previous marriage and a car he bought her as a gift.

She admitted writing the cheque after being assaulted on July 9 last year despite knowing she did not have the funds to cover it.

"I had no choice but to write the cheque," she said.

The Misdemeanours Court heard that in April 2012 the woman had married AJ, 33, from Egypt, who is also a flight attendant. However, the marriage had become troubled and the woman asked for a divorce.

The husband responded by trying to blackmail her and her father.

"When he knew my father was in Dubai, he called him and told him to pay money if we wanted him to grant me divorce," recalled the woman.

She said their problems started after she found out her husband had cheated in a promotion test at the airline where both worked.

"I had evidence that he cheated so he wanted to ruin my work and get me fired," she said.

Her husband denied assaulting her, but admitted asking her to write the cheque.

"During our engagement, I transferred money to her bank account and when she asked for divorce nine months after our marriage, I asked her to return the money," he said.

She told him her account was empty but wrote him a cheque for that amount as a guarantee she would repay him.

"When our problems grew bigger and she did not return the money, I tried to cash the cheque but her bank refused to give me the money and demanded that I get them a letter from a police station," said the husband.

When he went to the police station he learnt his wife had filed a complaint claiming he had stolen a cheque from her, so he lodged a complaint against her for writing a bad cheque.

He said he had a letter from his bank that proved she owed him Dh95,000.

The woman's prison sentence was suspended for three years.

salamir@thenational.ae