British man detained in Oman after 'verbal altercation' at airport

A British man has been detained in Oman after an alleged verbal altercation at an airport.

Les Bragg, from Portsmouth, is reported to have sworn when he found out his connecting flight to the UK had been delayed, according to The Sun.

The 41-year-old was flying back to the UK from the Philippines and was catching a connecting flight at Muscat Airport when he was arrested last month.

His friend, Laura Weston, has now started a fundraising effort to help pay for his reported £22,000 legal bill.

On the crowdfunding page, Ms Weston said Mr Bragg was travelling back to the UK to help care for his disabled mother and grandmother suffering from dementia when he was arrested "out of the blue" at the airport.

She claimed Mr Bragg was forced to sign a document in Arabic incriminating him and was currently in prison in Oman.

"The conditions in prison are terrible and Les hasn't eaten for days," she wrote. "We're really worried about him and desperately want to get him home safe to his family and loved ones."

Ms Weston claimed the Omani lawyers were asking for £22,000 to release Mr Bragg.

At the time of writing, £1,535 had been raised online.

She said there was no clear indication as to why Mr Bragg was imprisoned.

"He isn't an aggressive or violent man - all we know is that he had a verbal altercation while at Oman airport," she wrote.

"This could even mean he said a few sharp words and that was enough to get him arrested - not that he swore or was drunk."

The Sun quoted Ms Weston as saying that Mr Bragg thinks Omani authorities want to "put him away for one to three years".

The Foreign Office issued a statement on Mr Bragg's situation on Thursday saying: "We are supporting a British man and his family following his arrest in Oman and are in contact with the Omani authorities."

Sky News was told by a Foreign Office official on Friday that there has been no update since then.