Brooke George, a 23-year-old TikTok influencer from Gravesend, Kent, is being held at Dubai's Bur Dubai police station after being charged with murdering her boyfriend, William "Bill" Treeby, 26. Her family says the conditions there are severely affecting her mental health.
Arrest and charge
George was arrested at Dubai International Airport the day after the fatal stabbing of Treeby on June 21. She has not denied the stabbing, and her legal team has said she acted in self-defence. Her trial on the murder charge was delayed to October 28 after a hearing on October 7, where prosecution witnesses failed to appear despite being summoned.
Conditions at the detention centre
Her mother, Tess, has said every room in the facility is lit with bright lights and detainees can hear cries and screams from babies. George has not been provided medication that could help her sleep, and calls home are routinely interrupted. The family is being assisted by the pressure group Detained in Dubai.
Family's plea for help
Radha Stirling, founder of Detained in Dubai, said: "Brooke is suffering terribly. Her family describes a young woman who is increasingly upset, unable to sleep and struggling to maintain even the briefest contact with home."
Stirling added: "These facilities were never designed for long term habitation. British citizens who were locked up there for only hours during the Iran strikes were terrified at the thought of spending days there, let alone months. She has been told she could receive medication to help her sleep, yet her mother says nothing has happened."
George is not the first Brit held at Bur Dubai. Tourist Lee Bradley Brown died at the detention centre in police custody in 2011 after being arrested for a verbal altercation with a housekeeper at the Burj Al Arab hotel. Initially reported as choking on his own vomit, a 2022 jury inquest found neglect and severe beatings from guards and inmates caused his death.
