The statement by the Dubai Public Prosecutor office said the suspect — identified in various reports as Lee Bradley Brown — said he died Wednesday after being arrested for allegedly assaulting the hotel worker and trying to hurl her from the sixth floor of the sail-shaped hotel, which bills itself as a “seven-star” haven for guests that often include celebrities and royalty.
The prosecutor report also said traces of hashish were found in his urine samples.
A report in Dubai’s 7 Days newspaper said the 39-year-old Briton was arrested last week and was facing charges of “intimidating behavior” and “use of abusive language.”
Brown’s family told the newspaper that his fellow inmates called to tell them he had been attacked.
British Embassy spokeswoman Ruzina Hasan says the diplomatic mission has been in close contact with Dubai police during the investigation into the death, but gave no other details.
The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi quoted an anonymous police official calling the allegations of abuse “a pack of lies.”
The case adds to the list of headline-grabbing incidents involving Britons arrested in Dubai, home to a significant British resident population and a popular vacation spot.
Last year, a British couple was sentenced to a month in jail for passionately kissing in public. In 2008, two Britons accused of having sex on the beach were ordered to spend three months in jail, but the sentences were later suspended.
