A Scottish teenager accused of acting as a drug courier spent Christmas in a Qatari prison while his family desperately awaited news thousands of miles away. Lino Neil, 18, a champion fisherman from Drymen near Stirling, was arrested at Hamad International Airport in Doha on 21 November. He alleges he was coerced into transporting a suitcase filled with cannabis from Thailand to Dublin, but was intercepted in Qatar, where drug offences carry severe penalties.
Mr Neil was initially held in a cell at the airport crammed with 80 other men before being transferred to the city's Central Prison. His mother, Nicola Neil, 49, said he was distraught, had lost significant weight, and was terrified. She told how he phoned her in a frantic state and said he was going to take his own life. 'He has just turned 18 a month ago,' she said. 'He is a teenage boy, a baby, and he has no contacts in Thailand.'
Mrs Neil believes her son was manipulated by criminals, and she hopes Qatari authorities will recognise he was coerced. The family now face legal expenses of up to £40,000 for a criminal trial in Doha and have already raised approximately £2,500 to pay a solicitor in advance for his initial court appearance. Mrs Neil said her own mental health has been devastated, and she has been prescribed medication to prevent a breakdown.
Lino's brother Robbie, 28, had agreed to pick him up from Cairnryan when he returned home for Christmas, but he never arrived. Robbie said his brother phoned him from detention and claimed he had been set up. 'He had been in Phuket and flown out via Bangkok, stopping in Doha,' Robbie explained. 'Police said they found stuff in his bag and gave the impression he would be deported, but that is not what happened. He was put in a cell with 80 other guys at the airport.'
The British Embassy visited Lino on Wednesday after he was moved to Central Prison, where he now shares a smaller cell with a couple of other men. Robbie said it was absurd to suggest his brother could orchestrate a drug deal, describing him as 'a wee laddie who knows more about fishing than anything else.' Lino is due to appear in court on January 27, where he will argue that a British ex-pat coerced him into carrying the cannabis.
