British holiday maker Lee Brown died after being ‘beaten and starved’ in Dubai police station

A British holidaymaker died after being ‘beaten and starved by guards’ at a Dubai police station.

The family of businessman Lee Brown, 39, said British officials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have not done enough to prevent his death.

They accuse the State Department of putting diplomatic relations above its well-being.

Gulf state officials told them that Mr Brown beat himself up after he “wrapped his arms around.”

But fellow inmates had called the family, at great personal risk, to tell them he was being beaten by the police and starving and needed help or else he would die.

Mr. Brown had flown to the Gulf State on April 6, 2011 and was planning to stop for a few days en route to his girlfriend in Indonesia.

Walthamstow Coroner’s Court was told he allegedly assaulted a maid at the Burj Al Arab Hotel the next day before being taken to Bur Dubai Police Station, where he died five days later.

The jury members of the investigation were told that there are no images of the alleged incident or that his time at the police station has ever been provided by the UAE authorities, despite the request.

Mr Brown, from Dagenham, East London, loved to travel and considered converting to Islam in order to marry his girlfriend, whom he had been dating for about a year.

He would work seven days a week to run his construction, painting and decorating business to save money to fly around the world.

Mr Brown claimed in a statement after his arrest that someone who did not work at the hotel had come in and pushed him out.

When he returned, he said that 20 people were in his room and that he was later beaten and dragged to the police station in only his underwear.

On April 8, he was taken to the public prosecutor’s office where he allegedly threw himself to the ground, jumped on chairs and suffered superficial injuries to his face, arm and chest.

He then spent four days in prison, where his condition deteriorated.

On the evening of April 11, his brother Steve and sister-in-law Susanne received a panicked phone call from another detained Briton telling them their relative was “in very bad condition” and at risk of dying in custody.

The prisoner said, ‘You must get help. If it continues like this, Lee could die.”

They said Mr Brown had blood on his forehead from an injury and was handcuffed in solitary confinement.

They added: “He has been badly beaten by the police, he is in very bad shape.

“Get help and get the British embassy to call for help immediately.”

The next day around 2 a.m., the same prisoner called and said to Susanne, ‘Did you call the embassy? They put him in solitary, they beat him, he lies unconscious on the ground, he needs help.

“Dubai police beat him badly, he has been given no food or water, he has been in solitary shackles, there are shackles on his ankles, he seems to be asleep and going in and out of consciousness.

“Blood is dripping down his face and chest from a nose injury and he has a cut on the temple of his head.”

Another prisoner, who was French, also told them: ‘You must get help for him, he hasn’t eaten or drunk in days.’

His sister-in-law contacted the State Department immediately after both calls, but the officials were very “dry” with the family.

A few hours later, a State Department official visited the prison but was told that Mr. Brown was asleep and turned away.

Days later after Lee’s death, Steve and Susanne flew to Dubai and visited the police station, prosecutor’s office and hotel within 24 hours before flying back because they were too scared to sleep there.

Susanne told the court their conversation with a police station official was “vague and incoherent” and their requests to see CCTV were denied.

The pair were told CCTV showed Mr Brown beat himself up “by throwing his arms around” but when asked to see the footage were told it was “too grainy”.

Susanne told the coroner: “This is something he kept repeating and repeating, despite the fact that he told us on police station footage that he threw himself around and repeatedly injured himself.”

They also visited the chief prosecutor in his office, who was reportedly “quite manic” with the family and had a “bizarre presentation.”

Again, they were not allowed to view images.

Ms Brown added: ‘He told me’ [after his death] the prosecution against him was dropped, as if we were supposed to be thankful for this because they could have prosecuted him after his death, as if we should be glad they were dropped.

“He just wanted us to leave.”

She added: “There are many unanswered questions about the circumstances that led to his death.

“I believe he was beaten, starved and left to die in the appalling conditions of solitary confinement and that the authorities in the UK did nothing to save his life.

“If the inmates hadn’t called, very little would have been known about what happened to Lee.”

“It really worries us as a family that Dubai is being promoted as a really safe place to travel to, it’s a friendly country – it’s not like Afghanistan, we trade with them, there are treaties, it’s a safe country to to go on vacation.

“I don’t know if people are aware that they would get very little support if something went wrong.”

Steve added in his statement: “I believe he was beaten to death by the guards while he was in police custody.

“Had the embassy forced the matter and visited him in person quickly, medical attention might have been called and my brother would still be alive today.

“I am concerned that protecting the security of Britons is not as important to embassy staff as diplomatic relations with their hosts.

“I feel disappointed that all the information did not come from the State Department, but from prisoners and benefactors who were at great personal risk to themselves.”

He added in a statement read by the coroner: “He was a very hard-working person with a passion for travel.

“He worked long days and then traveled as long as his finances allowed him, before returning to do the same.

‘He was calm and friendly. He had no vices except for a flutter at the horse races.

“He was a pleasant, normal person who was much loved by his family.”

GP reports read to jurors said he struggled with depression between 2001 and 2004 after his father died in his arms from a stroke.

He had no medical conditions and was on no medications when he left for Dubai, but his sister-in-law told the coroner that mental illness was the only credible explanation for his alleged behavior at the hotel.

The jury’s inquest, chaired by Nadia Persaud, Area Coroner for East London, continues and is expected to last until Friday.