The parents of a former British army dog handler and war hero being held
in a Dubai jail, despite police admitting he is innocent, say he has had
his PTSD condition and mental vulnerability exploited in an sinister and
cynical attempt to make him “confess” to the crime.
Andrew Neal has been held in a terrifying Dubai jail among hardened
criminals for 5 months, with no end in sight, despite the police and
prosecution admitting he is innocent. The combat dog handler veteran
suffers from severe PTSD following his stressful tours of duty in
Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia.
Maurice and Sue Neal, Andrew’s mother and father claim that the UAE
authorities are exploiting the former soldier’s vulnerable mental state in
crude attempts to bully him into “confessing” details of the crime,
despite the police knowing Mr Neal was not involved in any wrongdoing.
“We’ve been lobbying the Dubai authorities to get Andrew help,” explains
Maurice. “Our Andrew was receiving regular counselling for his PTSD and
stress of any kind has a drastic effect on him. So being in that hideous
jail and away from his family is devastating for him. He is in great
danger of having a proper psychiatric breakdown in a situation like that.
So we were pleased when he told us they had arranged for a psychiatrist to
help Andy with coping in the jail.”
“Our relief didn’t last long,” Sue tells us. “He met with the
‘psychiatrist’ – if that’s what he really was – on Sunday. They kept
Andrew handcuffed and surrounded by aggressive guards and police for the
whole time that the so called session lasted for.
“The doctor wouldn’t let Andrew explain anything at all,” continues
Maurice. “He just kept saying to Andrew’s face that he didn’t really
suffer from PTSD, despite him having been diagnosed by the best Army
doctors in the UK. He told Andy that he was just experiencing ‘general
anxiety’, and would prescribe him what he called ‘an internationally known
medicine’. Only he wouldn’t tell Andy what the medicine was. .
“The doctor guy kept asking Andy about the drugs case he is falsely
charged with instead of trying to help him with his mental problems.”
Says Sue. “Asking him where he had got the drugs, who he had sold them
to, what drugs he took himself, and the like. It was all a sham to try
and trick him into saying he did something that they already admit he is
innocent of. It makes us scared that they will sentence him anyway, to
save face.”
“Andy was really shaken by the whole event. Expecting help and then
having to defend against the man who was trying to exploit Andrew’s
weakness and trick him into confessing something they know he hasn’t done.
Then to top it all off, the guy who said he was a doctor didn’t let Andy
take the medicine with him. He said that medicine is not allowed in the
building.”
“With these kind of attacks and exploitation of a vulnerable, man with
mental health issues,” says Maurice, “we are more concerned than ever that
they will frame him just to save face.”
Detained In Dubai also spoke with Dr Martyn Bignold, a clinical
psychologist from the London Trauma Specialists Clinic about the likely
effects of this situation on a PTSD victim. Dr Bignold has been working
with military and emergency services PTSD victims since 2006 and explains
that the negative effect of a PTSD sufferer like Andy being in a hostile
environment like a Dubai jail, and denied treatment would be significant
on both his physical and mental health.
“PTSD is s serious mental condition, requiring constant therapy and
management in a safe secure environment,” Dr Bignold tells us. “The thing
about PTSD victims is that they are in a constant state of threat
awareness. They are always evaluating their environment for potential
danger and it is mentally and physically exhausting. Without help and
under constant pressure, the sufferer is likely to have mental and
physical symptoms such as pressure on his digestive system, tremors and
elevated heart rate; all of which can lead to severe medical conditions.”
Dr Bignold also indicated that in the West, a PTSD sufferer, or any
mentally vulnerable individual would not be legally able to give consent
to being interviewed, especially in the circumstances described. “There
are guidelines for the treatment of vulnerable people, and the situation
as described here, with the victim going into what he thought was a
therapy session and then actually placed in a hostile environment
surrounded by police and guards and interrogated, would be stressful in
the extreme. His cognitive awareness and reasoning would be affected and
he would be less able to explain himself or think properly.”
Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained In Dubai, the UK based human rights group
representing Andrew Neal and his family had the following to say about
Andrew Neal’s abuse by the UAE authorities: “Andrew Neal is a brave but
vulnerable man, and the UK government needs to spend more time defending
and protecting him and other British victims of the flawed Dubai legal
system than they do in forming sinister MOUs to improve the image of the
UAE.
Andrew has a huge support base, including the British military and several
high profile MPs. This won’t simply go away to make things convenient for
the UAE authorities.
It is time for the UAE to minimise the damage this case is doing to their
reputation in the international community, and free this innocent man to
rebuild his life with his wife and children.”
UAE Criminal and Civil Justice Specialists. Contact us
on [info@detainedindubai.org](
or [press@detainedindubai.org]
[](mailto:press@detainedinduba
789 2347 [@Twitter](http://Www.twitte
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[Radha Stirling](http://www.radhastir
/ USA based legal and human rights organisation Detained in Dubai, Expert
Witness and respected analyst of Middle East Policy.
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