A couple of British tourists were arrested for having sex on a beach in Dubai, and now face the possibility of spending the next six years in jail.

According to various reports, Vince Acors, 34 and 30-year-old Michelle Palmer are being charged with having sex in public, illicit sex and being drunk in public by Dubai police. The couple had met only hours before the alleged incident took place at a champagne brunch at the Le Meridien Hotel. The reports allege that Palmer was very intoxicated when she and Acors went for a walk by the shoreline.

Witnesses are alleged to have seen the couple engaging in sex on a sun lounger. A police office arrived on the scene and warned the couple that sex in public was against the law. The couple did not heed the warning, and it was when the police officer caught them a second time that Acors and Palmer were placed under arrest.

At first the coupled denied the charges against them, but DNA tests would later prove that the couple engaged in “full sex.”

There is also strict ban on sex outside marriage in the Muslim city-state of Dubai. In an effort to reduce the sentence against them, it is reported that Palmer and Acors married in a rushed civil service.

Police sources report that, upon being approached by the police a second time, an allegedly intoxicated Palmer was abusive towards the officer and even attempted to strike him with her shoe.

Both Palmer and Acors will stand before a judge on August, 21, and each is facing the possibility of a maximum sentence of six years in prison.