Editorial
The heartbroken mum of 24-year-old Billy Hood, who was jailed for 25 years in Dubai over vape liquid found in his car containing CBD oil, has pleaded for help.
Breda Guckion made the appeal during an interview on Good Morning Britain and told hosts Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard it ‘breaks her every day’ that her son has been imprisoned.
She said: “I think for the first nine months we knew he had done nothing wrong, but we still had that hope.
Watch the interview below…
“But hearing that it was 25 years it broke us, it still breaks me every day.
“As a mother, and I know a lot of people know Billy. Please, please, if anyone can help and help get Billy home – please do.
“That’s all I can ask of you.”
Adding that they haven’t received any support from the foreign office, Billy’s uncle, David Guckion, who also appeared on the programme, begged for help from anyone who can stop this ‘nightmare’.
He said: “We appeal to anyone in the United Arab Emirates who can right this wrong, and stop this nightmare.”
Hood was allegedly forced to sign a confession he didn’t understand or face never being released from prison, despite taking a negative drug test after he was arrested.
Lawyers from Detained in Dubai, a pressure group who is representing him, claim a friend left the oil (which is legal in the UK) in his car and texted him to tell him it was there.
They argue that the ‘only logical conclusion’ to authorities making the arrest is that they intercepted the text messages.
In a statement released through them, the 24-year-old said: “I had just moved to a new home in Dubai and went to get a phone charger from my car when I was suddenly approached by police.
“They jumped out to arrest me, handcuffed me. One officer pointed a taser at me, threatening to use it if I did not cooperate.
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“They demanded I show them where the drugs were. I was shocked and confused and told them I wasn’t in possession of any drugs.”
The football coach, who is from Notting Hill, in London, says he then told police: “I do not smoke vape pens, cigarettes, or even sheesha.”
Twitter users were quick to throw their support behind the family.
One person commented: “My heart goes out to this family, this poor Mother looks broken I truly truly hope this will be resolved ASAP!
While another added: “This story should have been resolved before it even started! Billy is being used as an international pawn in political chess!”
The foreign commonwealth office issued a statement to GMB, saying: “We are giving consular support to a British man whose been imprisoned in the UAE.”
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