A British football coach jailed for 25 years in Dubai over four bottles of CBD vape liquid was beaten and tasered in custody, a friend has said.
Billy Hood, 24, was sentenced for trafficking, selling and possessing drugs after being forced to sign a confession in Arabic – which he cannot understand.
His parents say he was made to sleep on a floor with 30 other prisoners for five days before he finally caved in to his interrogators.
After his arrest in January Billy wasn’t initially given a phone call, meaning his mum and dad were left in the dark for three days.
It was only when his boss reported him missing to police that they were told he had been locked up.
The football agent told the Sun: ‘He told me police officers tasered him, slapped him in the face and all they fed him was bread and little bit of water.
‘Billy said they told him he could go home if he signed the paper, that’s why he gave in and signed that piece of paper in Arabic he had no idea what he signing, but he just wanted to make it stop.’
CBD vape oil is legal in the UK and many other countries and is often used to relieve pain, stress and anxiety.
But it is banned in the United Arab Emirates, as it contains trace amounts of THC – the psychoactive compound in cannabis.
The country takes a hardline approach to drugs and courts do not require substantial evidence for convictions.
Trafficking offences can be punishable by death and possession of even the smallest amounts can lead to a minimum jail sentence of four years.
Billy, from Kensington, says he did not know the CBD oil and vape pen was in the boot of his car, after giving his friend from London a lift to the airport.
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.
The ex-Kensington and Ealing Borough FC player thought it was a case of mistaken identity so he volunteered to be searched and gave a urine sample.
Billy, who had recently moved to a new home in Dubai, said he was ‘wholeheartedly against’ using drugs.
He said: ‘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.’
Billy’s mum Breda Guckion said the family is working on an appeal and has begged Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, to intervene in the case.
Her voice started breaking and tears started building up in her eyes as she made a heartfelt appeal today on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
In a heartfelt appeal today on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, she said: ‘As a mother, please if anyone can help get Billy home, please do, that’s all I can ask you.’
Billy’s dad, David Guckion, said: ‘We appeal to anybody in the United Arab Emirates or in Dubai, anybody who can right this wrong and just stop this nightmare. We would be so grateful.’
Alfie told the programme: ‘He’s probably one of the most positive people that I’ve come across in my life, and when I’ve had the chance to speak to him he sounds like he’s holding it together.
‘But again, when you’re in a UAE prison halfway across the world you never actually know how somebody’s feeling inside.’
Billy’s family have said they are disappointed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s response to their son’s detention.
In a statement the FCO said it was ‘giving consular support to a British man who has been imprisoned’.
The family is being helped by London-based charity Detained in Dubai, who say ‘forced and coerced confessions are commonplace in Dubai.’
mtro
