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Home / World

British man jailed for 25 years in Dubai after cannabis oil was found in car

NZ Herald
13 Oct, 2021 10:28 PM3 mins to read

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Billy Hood claims he was forced to sign a confession written in Arabic despite not speaking the language. Photo / Detained in Dubai

Billy Hood claims he was forced to sign a confession written in Arabic despite not speaking the language. Photo / Detained in Dubai

A British football coach has been jailed for 25 years in Dubai after police found a bottle of cannabis oil in his car.

Billy Hood, from London, was arrested on January 31, shortly after moving to the United Arab Emirates

The 24-year-old claims he was forced to sign a confession written in Arabic despite not speaking or reading the language.

The Foreign Office said it was "giving consular support to a British man who has been imprisoned" in Dubai.

Hood said police had unexpectedly turned up and demanded to search his home and car.

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He was with another friend at his flat on January 31 when police pointed a Taser in his face as he went to his car to grab a phone charger.

He told the campaign group Detained In Dubai he was taken to a "police station and kept in an isolation cell for 14 days without any hygiene products".

Hood claimed the oil was left by a friend who had been visiting from England two weeks earlier.

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His legal team said he cracked after four days of pressure and signed a confession after being told: "If you do not sign, you will never leave CID [criminal investigation department]."

Authorities kept Hood in custody at the station for the past nine months until a court sentenced him to 25 years in prison for trafficking, supplying and possession of drugs.

The football coach and former semi-professional player said he is firmly against the use of drugs.

"I do not smoke vape pens, cigarettes or even shisha. I coach football six to seven days a week. I am always working with kids and in schools all over Dubai.

"From age 16, I played football at a professional level for more than two years. I have always had a zero tolerance on any drugs or illegal substances.

"One of the main reasons I moved to the UAE was to pursue my coaching career. I have spent six-plus years collecting my coaching badges and would never let something such as drugs ruin everything."

Billy Hood's family are appealing to the UK and UAE government to intervene. Photo / Detained in Dubai
Billy Hood's family are appealing to the UK and UAE government to intervene. Photo / Detained in Dubai

Hood's mum Breda said the family was working on an appeal and begged Sheikh Mohammed, the vice-president and UAE prime minister, to intervene in the case.

She said: "The Foreign Office has done nothing to help us. We are so disappointed.

"After learning of the other cases where people have been set up by police or falsely accused of a crime, I can't believe the British government has not put this in their travel warnings.

"He's never been into drugs, ever. It is impossible that he is guilty of the allegations against him."

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Radha Stirling, chief executive of Detained in Dubai, which is representing the family, said "forced and coerced confessions are commonplace in Dubai".

Sentences for drug trafficking can include the death penalty and possession of even the smallest amount of illegal drugs can lead to a minimum four-year jail term.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: "We are giving consular support to a British man imprisoned in the UAE."

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