Aberdeenshire grandfather Ian Mackellar free to leave Dubai after court fine over party row
An Aberdeenshire grandfather who was facing jail in Dubai following a row over a noisy New Year’s Eve party has been allowed to leave the country.
Ian Mackellar, 75, had been visiting his daughter and granddaughter when he found himself arrested after complaining to neighbours over their New Year’s Eve party ruckus.
Mr Mackellar was charged with trespassing and verbal assault and was blocked from leaving the United Arab Emirates.
Under Dubai’s laws, Mr Mackellar could have been facing time behind bars.
He has been spared a prison sentence and was instead fined £650.
Detained in Dubai, which supports people caught up in UAE legal issues, said Mr Mackellar was “absolutely relieved” and has already booked his flight back to Glasgow.
Founder Radha Stirling said he should be home by Wednesday.
Mr Mackellar’s wife, Carol, was said to be thankful the “nightmare was over”.
Ms Stirling added: “She can’t wait to see him and is especially happy he has not been banned from returning to Dubai to visit his daughter in the future.”
The couple had been visiting their daughter while she settled into a new job.
Mr Mackellar was said to have asked the neighbours to turn their music down, which led to the conversation becoming “aggressive” and a drink reportedly being thrown by the host at one stage.
Ms Stirling said: “Ian was extremely nervous. He had no idea what was happening.
“He was put in front of a judge without his lawyer and essentially pushed to plead guilty to the charges against him.
“Ian did so and was then held in a locked room on his own, wondering whether he would be taken to prison.
“He was finally delivered the relieving news that he would be fined AED 3,000 (£650) and the travel ban would be removed.”
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‘He wouldn’t survive’ in jail
Following the incident, Mrs Mackellar was able to return home to Newtonhill and appealed for help from the safety of Scotland.
Speaking to Sky News last week, Mrs Mackellar said her husband’s mind had been “going down dark alleys” due to the stress and she was worried that she would never see him again.
She added that he “certainly wouldn’t survive” a prison sentence due to his poor health.
Mrs Mackellar added: “This really has been the most awful experience that we’ve ever undergone.”
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We provided consular assistance to a British man in Dubai.”
The Government of Dubai Media Office was contacted for comment.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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