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British mum accused of stripping in Dubai mall

A British mum was subjected to three days of questioning by Dubai police, after a woman accused her of stripping in a shopping mall.

Tessa Meager*, 28, was wearing a kaftan, sandals and white shorts when she was arrested while shopping with her ten-year-old daughter Helen.

The shaken mature law student was stopped in her tracks when a local woman started pointing and screaming ‘Respect!’ before calling over security guards.

During Tessa’s three-day nightmare, the local woman told police the mum had stripped naked in the Dubai shopping complex.

The Sun reported Tessa as saying: “She told them I took everything off and was standing in the mall with no clothes on.”

The interrogation was conducted entirely in Arabic, and saw Tessa charged with “outraging public decency.”

However, the allegations were later dropped when CCTV images proved the woman’s claims to be false.

Tessa said: “This woman took exception to me and I have no idea why.”

She added: “I tired to explain I had just been swimming.  I showed her the top of my bikini I had under my kaftan but this seemed to annoy her even more.

“She said I was disrespecting her faith.

“About 95 per cent of the people in the mall were wearing less than me.

“I’m amazed she was believed by the police.”

The mum has branded British consular staff she contacted during the ordeal as “useless”. She says they refused her a translator and told her simply to “beg forgiveness” from police.

A spokesman from the Foreign Office last night insisted: “We have offered consulate assistance throughout.”

By Emily Gosling

 * The legs pictured are not Tessa's