A British football coach has been sentenced to 25 years in prison in Dubai after police found four bottles of CBD vape liquid in his car. Billy Hood, 24, from Kensington, was convicted of trafficking, selling, and possessing drugs. He claims he was forced by police to confess in Arabic, a language he does not understand.
The vape oils, discovered on 31 January, contained CBD, which is legal in the UK but illegal in the UAE due to trace amounts of THC. Hood said he was unaware the oils were in his car, believing they had been left by a friend from England. He was detained in an isolation cell for 14 days without hygiene products.
Hood's family and the campaign group Detained in Dubai are working to appeal the conviction. His mother, Breda, described the past nine months as 'the worst stress I have ever been through' and criticised the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for lack of assistance. A GoFundMe page has raised over £11,000 for legal costs.
Radha Stirling, chief executive of Detained in Dubai, warned that the UAE's zero-tolerance drug policy can lead to wrongful arrests and forced confessions. The United Arab Emirates embassy has been approached for comment.
