A picture has emerged of the British businessman and his Saudi wife who were attacked by religious police officers for using a women-only till at a Riyadh supermarket. It comes as the couple revealed that they have received an apology for the incident from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the official name for the organisation to which the officers belonged. Shocking video footage appeared online that showed Peter Howarth-Lees and his Saudi-born wife, Abeer al-Fouti, being set upon by members of the religious police, also known as the Mutawa, outside a supermarket in an upmarket area of the Saudi capital. Scroll down for video . Attacked: Peter Howarth-Lees and his Saudi-born wife, Abeer al-Fouti, were set upon by members of the religious police in Riyadh. They are pictured here at the Just Like Us premiere during the 2010 Doha Tribeca Film Festival at the Katara Opera House in Qatar . In the video, after a woman appears to intervene, Mr Howarth-Lees, can be heard shouting 'That's my wife, how dare you.' Mr Howarth-Lees, a Muslim convert who runs a business called Smile Productions, was attacked after members of the Mutawa followed him out of the shop, The Telegraph has reported. A statement apparently written by Mr Howarth-Lees and posted on to a local website describes how he and his wife were directed to the female cashier before three men approached them and objected. Assault: Footage shows members of the religious police, also known as the Mutawa, jumping on Mr Howarth-Lees . He said the couple were harassed by the men, despite the cashier's assertion that the customers were a family, before the argument spilled out into the car park after they had paid for their goods. He said he was thrown to the ground when he tried to take a picture of the Mutawa members as evidence for a complaint after noticing one of them taking pictures of his car. He said: 'While I was on the ground all three of them proceeded to kick me repeatedly in the head and back and then one of them stamped hard on my face.' His wife then got out of the car before one of the men, apparently as seen in the video, climbed on to a car and jumped on to father-of-three Mr Howarth-Lees. The incident finally came to an end after the couple were rescued by guards from the British Embassy and driven away. They had called the local police, but they refused to help. Mr Howarth-Lees said he was thrown to the ground when he tried to take a picture of the Mutawa members as evidence for a complaint after noticing one of them taking pictures of his car . The incident took place outside a supermarket in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia (file picture) Mr Howarth-Lees told The Times that he had received an apology from the Mutawa and that the officers who had attacked him had been ‘administratively punished’. The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice is the Saudi Arabian government's religious police to enforce Sharia Law within the Islamic nation. Altogether, it has 3,500 to 4,000 police officers who enforce a strict religious code among citizens. Members patrol the streets checking dress code, strict separation of men and women, salat prayer by Muslims during prayer times, and other behaviour it believes to be commanded by Islam. The Mutawa are known for having full beards and wearing their headscarves (ghutrah or shemagh) loose without an agal and often come from Saudi Arabia's lower classes. The body has widespread powers to detain and berate offenders and shut down businesses and are employed directly by the King. The organisation's 2013 budget was the equivalent of $390million. In May this year it was reported that five Saudi men had been sentenced to 32 years in prison and 4,500 lashes by a criminal court in Saudi Arabia for holding a Valentine's Day party. The men were caught at a rented rest house in the Al-Farouq area of Buraidah Qassim province and accused of holding a party with women who were unrelated to them, drinking and dancing. Mutawa members rounded up the men with the help of security patrols for their offences along with six women on February 14.
Peter Howarth-Lees and his wife attacked by religious police in Saudi Arabia .
Couple had used a women-only cash register at a Riyadh supermarket .
Video footage has emerged of moment Mr Howarth-Lees is jumped on .
Head of religious police has apologised for the ugly incident, reportedly .
A picture has emerged of the British businessman and his Saudi wife who were attacked by religious police officers for using a women-only till at a Riyadh supermarket. It comes as the couple revealed that they have received an apology for the incident from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the official name for the organisation to which the officers belonged. Shocking video footage appeared online that showed Peter Howarth-Lees and his Saudi-born wife, Abeer al-Fouti, being set upon by members of the religious police, also known as the Mutawa, outside a supermarket in an upmarket area of the Saudi capital. Scroll down for video . Attacked: Peter Howarth-Lees and his Saudi-born wife, Abeer al-Fouti, were set upon by members of the religious police in Riyadh. They are pictured here at the Just Like Us premiere during the 2010 Doha Tribeca Film Festival at the Katara Opera House in Qatar . In the video, after a woman appears to intervene, Mr Howarth-Lees, can be heard shouting 'That's my wife, how dare you.' Mr Howarth-Lees, a Muslim convert who runs a business called Smile Productions, was attacked after members of the Mutawa followed him out of the shop, The Telegraph has reported. A statement apparently written by Mr Howarth-Lees and posted on to a local website describes how he and his wife were directed to the female cashier before three men approached them and objected. Assault: Footage shows members of the religious police, also known as the Mutawa, jumping on Mr Howarth-Lees . He said the couple were harassed by the men, despite the cashier's assertion that the customers were a family, before the argument spilled out into the car park after they had paid for their goods. He said he was thrown to the ground when he tried to take a picture of the Mutawa members as evidence for a complaint after noticing one of them taking pictures of his car. He said: 'While I was on the ground all three of them proceeded to kick me repeatedly in the head and back and then one of them stamped hard on my face.' His wife then got out of the car before one of the men, apparently as seen in the video, climbed on to a car and jumped on to father-of-three Mr Howarth-Lees. The incident finally came to an end after the couple were rescued by guards from the British Embassy and driven away. They had called the local police, but they refused to help. Mr Howarth-Lees said he was thrown to the ground when he tried to take a picture of the Mutawa members as evidence for a complaint after noticing one of them taking pictures of his car . The incident took place outside a supermarket in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia (file picture) Mr Howarth-Lees told The Times that he had received an apology from the Mutawa and that the officers who had attacked him had been ‘administratively punished’. The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice is the Saudi Arabian government's religious police to enforce Sharia Law within the Islamic nation. Altogether, it has 3,500 to 4,000 police officers who enforce a strict religious code among citizens. Members patrol the streets checking dress code, strict separation of men and women, salat prayer by Muslims during prayer times, and other behaviour it believes to be commanded by Islam. The Mutawa are known for having full beards and wearing their headscarves (ghutrah or shemagh) loose without an agal and often come from Saudi Arabia's lower classes. The body has widespread powers to detain and berate offenders and shut down businesses and are employed directly by the King. The organisation's 2013 budget was the equivalent of $390million. In May this year it was reported that five Saudi men had been sentenced to 32 years in prison and 4,500 lashes by a criminal court in Saudi Arabia for holding a Valentine's Day party. The men were caught at a rented rest house in the Al-Farouq area of Buraidah Qassim province and accused of holding a party with women who were unrelated to them, drinking and dancing. Mutawa members rounded up the men with the help of security patrols for their offences along with six women on February 14.
A picture has emerged of the British businessman and his Saudi wife who were attacked by religious police officers for using a women-only till at a the incident from the Commission for the for video . Attacked: Peter Howarth-Lees and his members of the religious police in Riyadh. They climbed on to a car and jumped on to Saudi Arabia (file picture) Mr Howarth-Lees told