Dominic Raab urged to act over Briton who died ‘after beating by Dubai police’

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has been urged by a coroner to step in over the death of a British holidaymaker in Dubai nine years ago.

Lee Brown, 39, died in police custody amid allegations he was beaten by officers. His death came six days after he was arrested for allegedly intimidating a maid at the Burj Al Arab hotel in April 2011.

Dubai police fiercely disputed the claims, saying he suffered only minor injuries while resisting arrest.

A post-mortem examination held in Dubai the week after Mr Brown’s death concluded he had died from choking on his own vomit, but a British autopsy over a week later found no evidence of it in his airways.

An inquest held in 2014 recorded an open verdict, which was quashed the following year and a new hearing was ordered.

At a pre-inquest review held at Walthamstow coroner’s court yesterday, chief coroner Nadia Persaud renewed criticism of the Dubai authorities for ignoring requests to provide vital documentation including CCTV footage that could give answers around his death.

Ms Persaud today called on the Foreign Office and Mr Raab to lobby Dubai’s UK ambassador to release the information. She said: “We are in a situation that is completely frustrating. The secretary of state may offer a glimmer of hope. The Foreign Office should consider that.”

Britain has an information sharing treaty with the United Arab Emirates but the country has refused to send documents based on legal loopholes.

John Lofthouse, representing Mr Brown’s family, also urged the Foreign Office to step in.

He said: “The time has come for friendly, direct contact to be made at a high level to explain something that is going wrong here.” Ms Persaud called the hearing in preparation for the inquest and to ask Foreign Office to provide information from its own consular staff in Dubai.

She added: “The assistance of the Foreign Office from staff on the ground in Dubai is the last hope we have for the family to get some answers about his death.”

Efforts are continuing to track down three British citizens who were held in the same jail as Mr Brown when he died, she said.

Richard O’Brien, representing the Government, said: “There is a sense that the Foreign Office can tell the UAE what do to. That is not correct and not how diplomacy works.”

The inquest is scheduled to begin on September 7.