A 24-year-old man is facing two years in a foreign jail after traces of cannabis were found in his system.
Connor Clements, from Liverpool, felt “stuck in a rut” in the UK so decided to move to Dubai where his sister lives with the hope of starting life anew.
But his dream soon turned into a “living nightmare.”
Just after he started his new job, his employers sent him for a medical, where he tested positive for cannabis, according to reports.
Connor claims that the drug was already in his system before he boarded the plane to the UAE, and that he had not smoked cannabis in the country.
“I was in a rut. My sister lives here and I had an opportunity to change my life and it’s been nothing but a living nightmare… I haven’t committed a crime in the UAE. I was coming over here to totally change my life around. I had a new job and met loads of nice people,” he told the Liverpool Echo.
He said: “They are saying I smoked it here – but I did [it] back home, they have got no proof… I used to smoke a lot back home. I came here to stop everything. It was a chance for me to change my life. But it’s been nothing but a nightmare.”
According to the newspaper, he was sentenced to two years behind bars after a court appearance that lasted “less than a minute.”
He has reportedly spent a few weeks in jail sleeping on the floor, in a room with 25 people before being released on bail.
The 24-year-old waiter had his passport taken from him and is waiting for an appeal hearing scheduled a few days before Christmas.
A Foreign Office spokesperson told the news outlet, “Our staff in the UAE are assisting a British man following his detention in Dubai.
“We have visited him on several occasions, made calls to the prosecutor’s office to get updates on his case, and are in regular contact with his family.”
About 200 UK citizens have been detained in the UAE in 2017.
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