A BRITISH chef spent 19 months in a Dubai jail on a drugs rap after cops misinterpreted a text booking a table.
Restauranteur Luke Tully, 43, was sent a message by a dealer he knew requesting a table for ten people.
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British chef Luke Tully spent 19 months in a Dubai jail on a drugs rap after cops misinterpreted a text booking a table
Police mistakenly believed it was a coded request for 10g of cocaine when they seized the supplier and his phone.
Dad-of-four Luke said officers threatened to throw him off a balcony unless he “told them where the drugs were”.
He and two friends were released in August by a judge due to lack of evidence.
But prosecutors in the United Arab Emirates are appealing against the decision.
Luke, who spent ￡150,000 on legal fees, is now back home in Bishop’s Stortford, Herts.
In a message to Brits planning to visit the UAE, he said: “Don’t bother if you value your liberty.”
Pressure group Detained in Dubai said police there were behind “hundreds” of wrongful drug arrests.
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Luke is back home in the UK having spent ￡150,000 on legal fees and he said to Brits planning to visit the UAE: 'Don’t bother if you value your liberty' Credit: Andrew Styczynski
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