Coming-of-age award for the most dangerous liaison
Goes to this 40-plus Dubai woman for discreetly marrying a 17-year-old boy she met in a mall and supposedly fell in love with. The teenager's distraught father had to eventually pay the woman Dh150,000 to divorce his son, who was promptly bundled abroad for a recreational vacation.
Double delight award for the luckiest man in town
Goes to Pakistani engineer Zahid Atique, 54, for scooping the Dh1 million National Bond jackpot twice in a span of six weeks. Atique retained his winnings of the first prize and won the second million from the same bonds.
Deer in the headlight award for rookie of the year
Jointly shared by a Sharjah prison doctor and guard for failing to see through the game of a convict, who feigned illness to get himself hospitalised and then, jumping from the hospital window, escaped to freedom despite having fetters on his legs.
Pet passion award for the most birdbrained idea
Goes to this 23-year-old Aussie who was caught with two live pigeons stuffed in his trousers after he got off from a flight from Dubai to Melbourne. The birds were wrapped in padded envelopes and held to each of the man's legs with a pair of tights.
Dumb award for saying it all and nothing
The hands down winner in this category is this 32-year-old detainee at Dubai Central Jail's HIV ward. Charged with drug trafficking, the fellow stitched his mouth to protest his innocence. Because his lips were sealed - in this case - literally, it required questioning from a fellow prisoner to understand the motive for the bizarre act.
Big mouth bass award for the most foolhardy threat
Not a difficult choice, actually. The award goes to a 47-year-old Dubai-based Syrian who threatened a Tunisian woman, saying he'd summon genies and send her corpse back home in a body bag if she refused to marry him.
