Sick Dubai prison guards boasted about ‘beating s**t’ out of Brit tourist 39, who was ‘left to die like dog’
SICK guards boasted about "beating the s**t out" of a British tourist who was left to die like a dog in a Dubai police station, an inquest has heard.
Lee Brown, 39, died at Bur Dubai police station after travelling to the Gulf on April 6, 2011, while on his way to visit his girlfriend in Indonesia.
Walthamstow Coroner's Court heard Mr Brown was taken into custody after allegedly assaulting a barmaid at the Burj Al Arab Hotel.
One detainee, who could only be referred to as Detainee One, told jurors in a written statement read by the coroner, a British man was bought into the courtyard on April 7 2011 and behaving "abnormally".
They said: "He was very loud and guards and prisoners were becoming noticeably annoyed by his behaviour."
The jurors were told Mr Brown was being "abusive" but not in a physical or threatening way, however others around him became "perplexed and annoyed" while the "foul language" he used offended some of the Muslim prisoners.
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It continued: "I was disturbed but mainly felt sorry for him as he genuinely seemed really unwell.
"I was worried if he kept going on the way he was he would get attacked by the guards. He was shouting all kinds of things, some of which made sense and some of which did not.
"He mentioned a girl had come into his room at the hotel. He told her to leave and thereafter police were called. I told him to stay calm and sit it out.
"He had no capacity to rationally think through the situation and identify a course of action that would allow him to resolve matters."
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The account detailed claims of Mr Brown taking his trousers down and making rude and inappropriate remarks to the prosecutor, infuriating the authorities.
It said: "One prisoner said they heard guards say they 'beat the sh*t' out of him.
"A prisoner told me he had said 'help me' to them. One day I woke up and heard simply that he had died. He was simply left to die on his own like a dog."
'HE WAS BLEEDING'
In another statement, referred to as an account from Detainee Two, it was claimed Mr Brown was making statements like he was a false "Messiah".
It said: "When he got back from the prosecutor's office he was bleeding head to toe and there were marks on his wrists.
"There were no marks on him before he went to the prosecutor. He said he had been beaten and kicked in the head."
Claims were made police asked several prisoners to move Mr Brown into solitary confinement.
The statement continued: "Later that evening there was still bleeding on his head. I said to the guards 'let him out' and they said 'he is mad.' Lee was saying 'help me, help me, I am going to die'.
"On 12 April an inmate came down and asked for Lee's passport. He asked for it 'because the British fellow had died.' They took Lee out in a bag."
Detainee Three said Mr Brown had claimed he'd been abducted by aliens and after coming back from the prosecutor's office he was bleeding.
She said: "Every now and again he would see aliens or something and he believed it. At the time before he left he was not himself and I could tell he was not himself."
Mr Brown's mother, Doris, told the court her son was "having a breakdown".
Doris said she'll remember her "hardworking" son as a "happy and family-orientated person".
Area Coroner for East London Nadia Persaud is presiding over the matter which continues and is expected to last until Friday.
A spokesperson at the UAE Embassy in the United Kingdom said it rejects the findings from the inquest, labelling them as "neither fair nor reasonable".
They said: “The Walthamstow Coroner’s Court ignored the prior findings of the High Court, the initial Coroner’s Court, and medial authorities in both the UK and the UAE.
"It relied on unsubstantiated, third-hand, hearsay claims by former anonymous prison inmates who relayed by way of written statements that they had 'been told' by other prisoners that they had 'overheard' guards at the prison speaking about beating Lee.
“The allegations were thoroughly investigated in 2011 by both UAE medical authorities and Police, and also by a British consultant pathologist appointed by Mr Brown’s family."
They said that evidence, as well as a series of medical reports and witness statements provided to the initial inquest in 2011, led that Coroner to return an open verdict in Mr Brown’s death, meaning the cause of his passing could not be determined.
The statement added: "In 2015, a High Court case brought by Mr Brown’s family challenging the Coroner’s verdict also concluded that 'there was no evidence of this being a violent death'.
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"In line with international standards, the UAE has stringent laws, regulations, and procedures in place to ensure the physical and psychological wellbeing of all detainees.
"This case is unusual and unfortunate, but the UAE stands behind its treatment of Mr Brown.”