Sunland two win appeals after five-year battle Rare appeal success: Matt Joyce. Australians Matt Joyce and Marcus Lee and their families should soon be free to return home from Dubai after both won stunning appeal cases on Sunday - a likely conclusion to their battle to prove their innocence on fraud charges that has run for almost five years. In an unexpected decision, the Dubai Rulers court acquitted Mr Joyce, who had been convicted in May, jailed for 10 years and fined $25 million over an alleged fraud against the emirate and the Australian developer Sunland - which an Australian court, in a parallel case, had already found never happened. Also on Sunday, the Dubai prosecution lost its appeal against the acquittal of Mr Lee, a colleague of Mr Joyce who judges had cleared of any role in the alleged plot. "Our mothers have told us that would be the best Christmas present we could bring them": Marcus Lee. Australian prime ministers Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard had joined diplomatic pleas to Dubai over the case. An elated Mr Joyce said from Dubai: "I am totally overwhelmed by today's acquittal - it has been a very emotional day for our family." Mr Joyce, his wife Angela Higgins and their three children have been trapped in Dubai since he and Mr Lee were arrested in January 2009 and initially jailed for nine months. "It is just an enormous relief that the truth has emerged through the Dubai justice system," Mr Joyce said. There is now a period of 30 days for any appeal but I am hopeful that today's verdict will be accepted and we will be free to go home. I understand that my passport will be returned shortly - all I'm focused on now is returning home and restarting our lives. While Mr Lee must also wait 30 days, during which time further appeals could be lodged, he told Fairfax Media by phone that he and his wife, Julie, hoped to be back in Australia by Christmas. "Our mothers have told us that would be the best Christmas present we could bring them," Mr Lee said. Mr Lee's father, stepfather and grandmother have died in the time that he has been trapped in Dubai since his arrest in January 2009. "I haven't worked since I was 39," Mr Lee said. Now I'm 44. But a crisis like this makes you reassess what is important. Julie and I worked hard. We had been career-focused. But now we know what matters is that we have each other. Mr Joyce had been managing director of Dubai Waterfront. He had been accused of receiving about $6 million as his share of the alleged conspiracy to dupe Sunland into paying more than $12 million to attain the rights to develop a plot called D17. It was alleged Mr Joyce and another Australian, Angus Reed, misled Sunland by claiming Mr Reed's company, Prudentia, had established rights over the plot. Mr Reed - who had been convicted in absentia - was also acquitted on Sunday. The Victorian Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal found there was no deception of Sunland and made damning findings against the credibility of its executives David Brown and Soheil Abedian. "Things for Julie and I will never be the same," Mr Lee said. We appreciate all of the contact we have received from Australian government officials. ""We now also call on the Australian government to make representations on our behalf at the highest levels in Dubai and the UAE to ensure this clear acquittal is now accepted, and no further appeals are lodged. Julie and I desperately want to be able to see our families again. Mr Lee's Australian lawyer, John Sneddon of Shand Taylor Lawyers in Brisbane, has been working on the case pro bono since it began. He said: "This is a wonderful result. I am incredibly relieved. I really couldn't see any legal basis for the appeal but you never stop worrying about the prospect of a wrong decision or miscarriage of justice. There has never been any question of Marcus Lee's innocence but to hear that affirmed by yet another Dubai court is wonderful news. I have seen the physical and mental impact this has had on Marcus and Julie first hand. They are absolutely exhausted. They are sick, they are tired and they have lost everything they ever owned. It is a testament to their character that they have been able to keep going for five years. I am proud to have represented them. I therefore urge the Dubai authorities to remove Marcus from the case now and let him come home. Any further appeals would be devastating. In recent months, my clients' plight has been raised with the Dubai and UAE authorities by Prime Minister Abbott, former Prime Minister Gillard, the former Foreign Minister Bob Carr and the former Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus. There have also been numerous representations made by Australia's Ambassador to the UAE, Mr Pablo Kang. Given the extent of the representations made by the Australian government on Marcus and Julie's behalf, including those made by Prime Minister Abbott as recently as last month, I firmly believe any further appeal would place a strain on relations between the UAE, Dubai and Australia.