BRITISH footballer Billy Hood was thrown into cockroach-infested solitary confinement in a Dubai jail for ten days, a family member has revealed

       Billy's uncle David spoke to his nephew for the first time in weeks after his contact with the outside world was brutally cut off by prison guards.

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       Billy Hood spent ten days in cockroach-infested solitary confinement Credit: SWNS 2

       Billy was sentenced to 25 years in prison after police found CBD vape oil in his car Credit: AFP

       In October, the 24-year-old Billy was sentenced to 25 years in prison after he was found with four tiny bottles of harmless CBD vape oil in his car.

       "I spoke to him but he was very limited in what he could say,” David told Radha Stirling the CEO and founder of Detained in Dubai.

       "He was put into solitary confinement on arrival and the limit is supposed to be five days but he was put in for ten.

       "The lights were on full beam 24 hours a day.

       "Billy told me he came close to losing his mind in the cockroach-infested cell with no toiletries and the aircon set to -10 degrees”.

       Billy's family had not heard from him after he was moved from one of Dubai's most notorious prisons.

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       His family were deeply concerned for his wellbeing after he claimed that he had damning evidence that Dubai cops framed him.

       A friend of the footballer, from Ladbroke Grove, West London, even claimed he had been “tortured” and “tasered” in the "hellhole" prison ever since he discussed his bombshell evidence.

       As he awaits the verdict for his appeal, Billy will spend his 25th birthday in appalling conditions in the notorious Al Sadr prison.

       On the ten days he spent in solitary confinement, Ms Stirling said: "This is a form of torture and most certainly contravenes UN directives.

       "We’ve received numerous reports over the years that interrogation rooms and cells have been turned into freezer boxes, with some prisoners even douched in ice-cold water.

       "This treatment is a violation of what Britain stands for and must be investigated."

       'FORCED CONFESSION'

       Billy has now been behind bars for nine months under the strict UAE drug laws after a pal allegedly left the CBD oil in his car as he dropped him off at the airport.

       Friend and football agent 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 because officials told him if he signed the document, written in Arabic, they would stop the abuse.

       Billy's family, backed by campaign group Detained in Dubai, have applied for a royal pardon while appealing directly to Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum for the 24-year-old's freedom.

       They blasted his arrest as "ridiculous" and said it was "absolutely absurd" that police have "ruined his life and slandered him and his reputation".

       There is zero tolerance for drug-related offences in the UAE.

       The penalties for trafficking, smuggling and possession of even tiny amounts of drugs are severe.

       Sentences for drug trafficking can include the death penalty and possession of even the smallest amount of illegal drugs can lead to a minimum four-year jail sentence.