Dubai: A driver, who was accused of raping a woman, won a lenient punishment on Wednesday after a court modified the charge against him to having paid sex and jailed him for a year.

When he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance, the 39-year-old Nigerian driver, C.E., denied prosecutors’ accusation that he had raped the 24-year-old Cameroonian woman. He said he had consensual sex with the woman but she falsely claimed that she was raped after they disagreed over her fees.

“It was paid sex but when we fought over her fees, she claimed to the police that I raped her,” C.E. told the court.

His court-appointed lawyer Mohammad Abdullah Al Redha contended in court: “The woman had willingly went to C.E.’s flat after she had agreed to have sex with him for Dh200 ... but when something went wrong with the man’s contraceptive during sex, the woman asked for more money. They brawled and she went and alleged that she was raped out of malice and greed.”

The woman claimed that she was present in C.E.’s flat when he forced himself on her and raped her after he threatened to kill her in September.

Al Redha said C.E. did not turn aggressive. “He had consensual sex with the woman and he did not coerce her or threaten to kill her. She lied. She is a greedy person and was seeking more money. She gave inconsistent and contradicting statements before prosecutors and the court,” argued the lawyer.

Presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi said the defendant will be deported after serving his jail term.

Records said the defendant hefted the woman on to his shoulders, moved her into the bedroom, threw her on the bed and raped her under coercion, threat and assault.

“Prosecutors’ accusation was unsubstantiated. This is a crystal-clear consensual sex case. A witness said he had spotted my client and the woman holding hands and smiling. The witness testified that she [the woman] did not seem assaulted or threatened and seemed very normal. The forensic examination report said the woman did not have bruises or injuries that could confirm that she had been raped. In her testimony, she said that C.E. muzzled her with a cloth, but she told prosecutors that he muzzled her with a pillow,” argued Al Redha.

The woman claimed that the incident happened after she had met C.E., who had promised to find her a job.

“I went with him to a flat after he said his brother would help me find a job in a company where he works. When we reached the flat, the brother took my CV and claimed that he would be away to hand it over to someone on the upper floor. Then C.E. sat beside me and molested me. When I refused to have sex with him, he turned aggressive and raped me in the bedroom,” she testified.

A police lieutenant said the defendant told him that during the act, something went wrong and she asked him for more money.

Al Redha had asked the court to modify the accusation from rape to having consensual sex.

Wednesday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.