Sean Emmett is 'chief murder suspect'

SEAN Emmett is not being allowed to leave Dubai because he is a suspect in a murder investigation into the death of his wife, it has been reported.  

Emmett's wife Abbie fell to her death from a fourth-floor Dubai hotel window in February this year.

Emmett's passport was confiscated in March when he was fined for drinking alcohol without a licence, and has not been returned, leaving him stranded in Dubai.

The former superbike star said: "I've been roaming around Dubai for seven months. I'm not charged with anything. I'm not on bail."

Prosecutors have told UAE newspaper The National that Emmett is not being allowed to leave because he is the chief suspect in a murder investigation into his wife's death, the BBC has reported. 

Mrs Emmett died during a 48-hour stop-over in Dubai after the couple's honeymoon in South Africa.

Emmett said she had drunk more than two bottles of wine on the night of her death, and had dropped her wedding ring from the window. The couple went downstairs to search for the ring but were unsuccessful, he said.

He said his wife went from being "mega high and happy" to "emotional" after they failed to find the ring.

Emmett said his wife was leaning out of the window when he asked her to come in, saying he would go and look for the ring again. She then slipped and fell, he said.

Emmett said: "She kept leaning out of the window. I said 'please stop leaning out of the window like that'

"I was by the door - bearing in mind we were in a big suite. I was looking at her and saying please stop leaning out of the window, I'm going to find the ring.

"The next minute her feet went up in the air and she was out of the window.

"I rushed to the window, looked down - obviously it was dark."

He then rushed downstairs and spent 20 minutes trying to revive her, he added.

Local police say the case is out of their hands and has been passed to the courts.

A petition is calling on UK government to assist in bringing Emmett home.