British tourist is facing a year in Dubai prison after being arrested for carrying a fake Scottish £20 note on holiday with his wife and two children.
Billy Barclay was arrested after landing at the city’s airport with his partner and two young children last month.
The 31-year-old was wanted for allegedly passing on fake money during a visit to the United Arab Emirates last year – a crime he was cleared of, writes the Daily Record.
Billy, from Edinburgh, claims he was held in shackles for three days before being released on bail.
His passport was confiscated and he was ordered to remain in the country while his family had to return home without him.
Speaking from Dubai, Billy said: “We tried telling them about the mix-up last year but for some reason I was still in the computer as wanted for passing on fake money.
“I was held in shackles for three days in a cell away from my family.”
His partner Monique spent the rest of the holiday trying to get help from the British Embassy – but she and the couple’s children, nine-year-old Madison and Billy Jnr, seven, were forced to fly back to Edinburgh alone.
Billy is now facing up to a year in prison for a crime which he says he didn’t commit and was cleared of last year.
The plasterer’s first brush with the law came while the family enjoyed a sunshine break ast year.
The family had gone to change some money at an exchange in Al Hamra Mall. But one of the notes handed over by the couple set off the counterfeit money detector and they were told to wait for the police.
The whole family were then hauled off to the Ras Al Khaima CID headquarters, where Billy was interrogated for 12 hours while their hotel room was searched.
After no counterfeit money was found, the family were released and told they faced no charges.
But the family’s world was turned upside down when they returned to Dubai on September 15.
Monique, 42, said: “We just need him home. The kids cry every day.”
A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson said: “We are providing assistance to the family of a British man who was arrested in UAE in September.”
