A British chef who was allegedly beaten and thrown in a Dubai jail for nearly two years over a misunderstood text has revealed the brutal reality about his experience.
When Luke Tully swapped London for Dubai in 2018, he had no idea that his dreams of working as a restaurateur in the Middle Eastern country would end in a harrowing prison stay.
The 47-year-old's life in the Gulf state got off to an amazing start as he was able to open two restaurants and earn £8,000 tax-free. However, his luxurious lifestyle would come crashing down just two years later when he was wrongly accused of drug dealing.
Recalling his fateful mistake, Tully explained that he'd befriended a man who worked at one of the city's several prestigious nightclubs.
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When the unnamed man was caught with cocaine by police, Tully's name would show up in his recent messages – leading to a fatal error where police believed one of his messages to have been code for drugs.
"They went through his phone book and found a message from me in November about booking a table for 10 people at my restaurant," Tully explained in a new interview with The Sun.
"They thought this was code for drugs so they came round to my house – I was about to go and watch Arsenal play Newcastle – and kicked the door off the hinges and came rushing in."
The restauranter then recalled being kicked, beaten and slapped with a pair of wet sliders by police while they grilled him over alleged drug accusations.
"One police officer was tapping me on the head with a piece of iron as he threatened to crack my skull open," he said of the ordeal. "They were in my house for four or five hours and then they threw me into one of their Land Cruisers and took me to the police station."
Despite Tully later testing negative for drugs and no traces of illegal substances being found in his home, authorities still pushed ahead with prosecution.
He claimed that he locked away in prison for a year, forced to share 10 toilets with 200 other inmates and live alongside rapists, peadophiles and animal abusers.
He would remain in this limbo until his trial collapsed 19 months later and was ultimately deported back to the UK.
Now writing a book about his ordeal, Tully ultimately doesn't regret his time in the UAE, but urged other tourists to educate themselves on the dangers of falling foul of the law.
He has also warned youngsters against getting mixed up in drugs or even associating with people who are using them while staying in Dubai, adding: "Being around people who take drugs you can get sucked in, even if you don’t have anything on you and you test negative."
What are the penalties for using drugs in Dubai?
The United Arab Emirates enforces a zero tolerance policy when it comes to drugs, with harsh penalties outlined under the country's penal code.
"The penalties for trafficking, smuggling, using and possessing illegal drugs (including residual amounts) are severe. Sentences for drug trafficking can include the death penalty," guidelines from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office reads.
Tully isn't the first Brit to fall foul of the country's strict drugs laws, with British student Mia O'Brien recently being handed a 25-year sentence over alleged drug offences.
Topics: World News, UK News, Dubai, Travel, Crime
Brenna Cooper