Dubai’s Criminal Court has sentenced an Australian transit passenger to six months in prison plus deportation after he was convicted of assaulting a Dubai airport policeman.

Arabian Business reports that the ruling was passed on January 28 after the court heard how the 53-year-old Australian man was transiting from London to Sydney via Dubai on July 25, 2017.

A technical issue had delayed the flight, resulting in passengers being deboarded after waiting for four hours on the plane, and offered hotel accommodation near Dubai International Airport. The plane had been scheduled to take off at 8.30am.

According to the report, when the passenger was requested to have his luggage searched by customs inspectors, he refused to place his luggage in the scanning device and became angry.

The airport police were called who tried to convince the defendant to have his bags searched. He repeatedly refused and shouted at an Emirati corporal.

This prompted the policeman to handcuff him. The man violently resisted and the two men fell to the floor, leading to knee and ankle injuries for the policeman.