A British man is facing up to a year in jail in the United Arab Emirates for allegedly possessing counterfeit money.
William Barclay was stopped at Dubai International Airport in September after an incident in 2016 when he tried to exchange money at the Al Hamra Mall in Ras Al Khaimah.
He was accused of being in possession of counterfeit cash and questioned by detectives for 12 hours before being told no charges would be brought and was allowed to continue his family holiday.
Despite his ordeal Mr Barclay, a plasterer from Edinburgh, his wife Monique and two children returned to the country on September 15 this year and he was stopped at the airport.
Authorities arrested him for possessing counterfeit money and he was taken from his family and questioned by Ras Al Khaimah police for three days.
He has since been released but his passport has been confiscated and he is staying in a £120-a-night hotel awaiting the outcome of the case against him.
Mr Barclay could face up to a year in jail in the UAE, a £1000 fine and deportation back to the UK.
His family have no idea where the fake £20 note came from and believe it could have been given in change. They have since returned to Fernieside, Edinburgh, but Mr Barclay is unable to leave until his case has been dealt with.
Radha Stirling, chief executive of British non-governmental organisation Detained In Dubai, which is representing the family said: "Clearly in this case, Mr Barclay received a counterfeit note that was already in circulation and is himself a victim.
"Charging him over a fake note he received and passed unknowingly is not an effective way to deal with the problem of counterfeiting and it once again highlights the risks visitors to the UAE face from the country's legal system.
"He was detained for three days, moved from one facility to another in shackles, and though he is now out on bail, his passport has been confiscated and he is stuck in the UAE indefinitely.
"We hope that the charges will ultimately be dropped, but in the meantime, Mr Barclay is in a very difficult situation."
A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We are providing assistance to the family of a British man who was arrested in UAE in September."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article