Brit dad ‘overwhelmed’ in Dubai jail as household warn ‘he will not survive’ in ‘hell’
Ryan Pepper, 27, has been held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since November 2025 without charge, allegedly suffering abuse in detention, according to campaigning organisation Detained in Dubai
Ryan Pepper’s relatives say he expressed in increasingly dark handwritten messages how he fears for his safety in a Dubai prison(Image: @RadhaStirling/X)
The family of a father detained in ‘hellhole’ Dubai detention centre without explanation fear that he could die in there. This is after hearing about the horrific conditions at the facility where he is being held. Ryan Pepper, 27, has been held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) “without explanation” since November 3, 2025, with minimal contact with his family, says campaign group Detained in Dubai.
It’s believed he has not been charged with any offence. According to the group, Ryan has reported physical and psychological abuse, and alleged threats from his captors, while British officials reportedly struggle to gain access to him.
The family, who have raised safeguarding concerns following letters from the father, have voiced their fears that Ryan may not survive the “hell” he claims he is enduring.
The family informed Detained in Dubai, which offers legal support to foreigners detained in the UAE, that Ryan was kept without phone access for months. This meant the father could only communicate through handwritten notes smuggled out of custody. In these notes, he alleges that police “kidnapped and robbed” his fellow detainees and describes the facility as “hell”.
Sister Chloe said the family was initially led to believe that Ryan would be deported home, but his messages became increasingly dark and alarming, reports the Mirror. Chloe, from Ashford, Kent, shared with the campaigners: “At first we were trying to stay positive.
“But then Ryan started telling us people had been beaten, isolated, threatened and denied communication. He sounded terrified.
“We genuinely began fearing he was going to die in there.” The family later received a call from another detainee who informed them that Ryan was abused and kept in solitary confinement for 20 days.
Ryan was subsequently rushed to hospital, following what he alleged were intensifying and savage beatings that resulted in such severe dental damage he needed inpatient care. Detained in Dubai reveals that the family was given information implying the hospital treatment was linked to assaults in custody, contradicting an official statement from the UAE insisting it was due to complications from a previous surgery.
The organisation also stated that British Embassy officials had attempted to visit, and had organised to meet Ryan face-to-face but claimed the appointment was cancelled due to “short-term restrictions”. Ryan, who relocated to Dubai in May last year seeking a new beginning after a relationship ended also told his family that detainees had been threatened prior to meeting British officials. He expressed that he did not feel safe speaking candidly.
Upon returning from a trip to New York in November, he was arrested along with a group of other individuals and has been banged up since. Radha Stirling, the founder of Detained in Dubai, said: “This is the central problem.
“The Foreign Office continues relying on reassurances obtained in environments where detainees may be terrified to speak honestly. British officials cannot meaningfully assess torture allegations if meetings are monitored by the same authorities accused of abuse.”
Ryan is among numerous individuals currently receiving guidance from the organisation, with other British families also left petrified that their relatives could be enduring suffering behind bars. Brits have perished in Dubai custody previously, with father Lee Bradley Brown having died in 2011 after he was allegedly battered and refused adequate medical attention.
Chloe said she and her family are “begging for proof our loved one is safe” adding: “No family should have to live like this.”
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