LONDON, England (CNN) — A British businessman jailed in Dubai after being convicted with a female companion for having sex on a beach said he had acted naively as he spoke publicly Monday for the first time since returning to the UK.

Vince Acors said he had been “extremely naive” about Muslim law.

Vince Acors, 34, and Michelle Palmer, 36, were arrested on a Dubai beach in July and convicted to three-month jail terms in October on charges of public indecency and for having sex outside marriage. Their jail sentences were suspended on appeal and both returned to the UK last week.

Acors, a telecommunications executive, admitted being drunk at the time of the incident after an afternoon of drinking but denied that sex between the couple had occurred and said that worldwide media interest in the case had given authorities no choice but to convict them.

“Sex in this country (the UK) is not the same as sex in Dubai,” Acors told a news conference, adding that there was “physical contact but intercourse did not take place.”

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But Acors admitted he had been “extremely naive” about Muslim law in the Middle Eastern country.

He described how drinking was commonplace in the Emirate’s Western hotels, and how his “champagne glass was never empty” during a Friday afternoon “all-you-can-drink” reception where he met Palmer.

Acors said the Dubai authorities had confiscated his passport during deportation proceedings that took three months. He returned to Britain on Christmas Eve and is now looking to sell his story.

He said he and Palmer had since spoken only to discuss the case and don’t have a relationship. She was not at the news conference.

Lifted from cnn.com/europe