Billy Hood’s family ‘fear worst’ after contact with him dries up
THEY’VE HEARD NOTHING FROM HIM SINCE HE SAID HE WOULD ‘EXPOSE COPS WHO FRAMED HIM’
THE family of a London football coach imprisoned in Dubai have revealed they now fear for his safety after he “vanished”, having vowed to expose the cops he said framed him.
Billy Hood, 24, from Kensington, has been locked up since January for possessing CBD vape oil and was sentenced to 25 years in prison last month.
Now, his worried family say he has not been in contact with them since he was transferred to a jail in Abu Dhabi and they have begun to fear the worst.
Billy was convicted of possession, selling and drug trafficking after police found four small bottles of the oil in his car
His sudden silence has left his family terrified, especially as they say he had recently claimed he had compelling evidence which proved he had been framed by police.
This revelation follows a friend of Billy claiming he had been “tortured” and “tasered” in the “hellhole” prison ever since he vowed to expose the officers
Billy’s heartbroken mum Brenda said her son “hasn’t even been able to get in touch with his lawyer” since he was moved to another jail.
Brenda spoke to Radha Stirling, founder and chief executive of pressure group Detained in Dubai, about her fears.
She said: “I can’t imagine what he’s going through now.
“He’s been moved from pillar to post and was just finally relieved to be with other British citizens in Dubai when they suddenly moved him to Abu Dhabi.
“He’s going through the most stressful time in his entire life and can’t even communicate with his family, his lawyer or the British Embassy.”
Ms Stirling said the judicial process in the UAE was “unpredictable” and warned that unexpected delays are “c o m m o n p l a c e ” ahead of Billy’s appeal judgement on November 30.
She said she hopes Billy makes it home in time for Christmas as he did not deserved to be locked up for something he “did not do”.
Adding that it would be “likely to haunt him for the rest of his life” even if his conviction is quashed or he is pardoned, she said: “I’ve seen the effect unfair detention and persecution has on people who are unlucky enough to see it first hand.”
Billy has been locked up for nine months under strict UAE drug laws after he moved to the country to work as a football coach.
He claims a friend left the CBD oil in his car as he dropped him off at the airport. .
Alfie Cain said Billy was repeatedly beaten for five days straight while officers tried to force him to confess to drug crimes.
He said Billy told him he only signed the drug trafficking confession, which was written in Arabic, because officials told him they would stop the abuse if he did.
Billy’s family, backed by campaign group Detained in Dubai, have applied for a royal pardon and appealed directly to Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum for his release.
They described his arrest as “ridiculous” saying it was “absolutely absurd” that police have “ruined his life and slandered him and his reputation”.
A petition to free Billy has gained more than 110,000 signatures and Ms Stirling has pleaded with Government ministers to lend their support to their campaign.
Billy told his lawyers police threatened to Taser him and said they were only interested in him because of something they had seen on social media so he allowed them to search his car and his apartment to prove he was innocent. He also claimed a drugs test came back negative.
There is zero tolerance for drugrelated offences in the UAE with severe penalties.
Anyone convicted of drug trafficking could face the death penalty and possession of even the smallest amount of illegal drugs can lead to at least four years in jail.
He’s going through the most stressful time in his entire life and can’t even communicate with his family, his lawyer or the British Embassy. Billy’s mum Brenda