A British influencer in Dubai faces the death penalty after being charged with the murder of a man she claims abused her, according to a human rights group.
Brooke George, 23, from Gravesend in Kent, is accused of killing a 26-year-old British citizen with a knife in his luxury apartment, after meeting him online and moving out to see him.
Ms George, a former John Lewis worker, was charged with premeditated murder and has been advised she could face the firing squad if convicted, according to Detained in Dubai, advocating on her behalf.
The group says she alleges her male friend had become increasingly controlling and abusive, and that she acted in self-defence after he repeatedly attacked her.
According to her family, Ms George left the apartment in an attempt to escape and leave the UAE. They say she was in a state of shock and believed she needed to get away and go home.
Ms George was arrested at the airport in the early hours of Monday morning and charged, but her advocates say the circumstances have not been thoroughly investigated.
Thereza George, her mother, said: “As Brooke’s mother, I am deeply concerned for her welfare. The daughter I spoke to that night was utterly terrified.
“I firmly believe she was desperately trying to get home and away from whatever had happened to her.”
Ms George met the deceased on Facebook and travelled to Dubai to meet him. The first visit lasted about a week and was positive, she said, describing it as “the time of my life”.
But on her second visit, Ms George claims she saw a behavioural shift, according to Detained in Dubai. The man allegedly became abusive, and she discovered he had only booked her a one-way ticket.
She claims that one evening, he assaulted her in the car after coming out of a bar intoxicated. She said the attacks continued when they got back to his flat.
Her family say Ms George contacted them in a panic and tried to arrange a flight home. When she went to his flat to recover her passport, she found her belongings strewn across the flat.
She was then allegedly punched in the face and attacked. Fearing for her life, she claims, she reached for a kitchen knife and acted in self-defence.
“The day before the incident, she did not seem like herself. She was quieter and not her usual happy, cheerful self, but she did not tell me why,” her mother said.
“That evening, they went to a bar in Dubai. When I spoke to Brooke right after the incident, she was absolutely terrified. I have never seen my daughter so frightened in my life. She was crying uncontrollably. I could see that one of her eyes was badly swollen and was beginning to close.”
Ms George is currently being held at the Bur Dubai Police Station, where British tourist Lee Bradley Brown died in police custody in 2011.
She has been forced to strip naked in front of male officers without female officers present. She has received little explanation of court proceedings, been deprived of access to her embassy, and forced to make statements without a lawyer present, according to the rights organisation.
Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, said in a statement: “This case raises serious concerns about violence against women, the right to self-defence, due process and the treatment of British nationals detained overseas.
“Brooke maintains that she acted only after being subjected to a violent assault and in genuine fear for her safety. She should be treated not merely as an accused person, but as a presumed victim of violence whose allegations and documented injuries deserve proper investigation.
“We will be working to ensure that her rights are protected, that she receives a fair trial, and that the circumstances leading to this tragedy are fully and impartially examined.”
A spokesperson for the British Foreign Office told The Independent: “We are in touch with a British woman detained in the UAE, we are supporting her family, and we are in contact with the local authorities.”
The FCDO provides guidance for British citizens arrested or detained abroad.
