By SABRINA PENTY, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 16:01 BST, 26 September 2025 | Updated: 17:00 BST, 26 September 2025
A British grandfather arrested in Dubai says he has been left stranded and homeless there and is being denied cancer treatment after being barred from travelling. John Murphy, 59, who served in the British military before building a life in the UAE, was arrested a decade ago after a disagreement with a hotel security guard. While in prison, his landlord sued him for non-payment of rent, seized his possessions, and had a travel ban imposed. For nearly 10 years he has been stuck in Dubai, unable to work and lawyers say he is trapped in a 'inescapable legal limbo'.In recent weeks, the Brit has been forced to sleep on public transport and wash in shopping centre toilets.He said he hasn't eaten in days and has been on the streets for three weeks.'I try to ride the metro all day to rest, but security chase me away', he said. 'I wash in mall toilets, I've been in the same clothes for weeks, and my health is failing. John Murphy, 59, has been left stranded and homeless in Dubai due to a travel banMr Murphy also said that he needs urgent cancer treatment and dental care.Although homelessness is illegal in the UAE, when Mr Murphy attempted to surrender to police, they refused to arrest him.Speaking about Mr Murphy's ordeal, CEO of Detained in Dubai Radha Stirling said: 'This is outrageous...John was found innocent, yet ten years later he is starving on the streets, denied cancer treatment, food, or shelter.'This is the direct result of a system that criminalises debt and traps people in a cycle of poverty and despair.'They won't let him leave, and they won't even arrest him.'He is being left to die in plain sight.''The Trump administration successfully repatriated a number of American citizens from the UAE,' Stirling added.'It is disappointing that Britain and Ireland have not stepped in to save John Murphy.'He is a veteran, a grandfather, and he has already suffered enough.'The Irish and British governments must act now.'A friend of Mr Murphy's has launched a GoFundMe page and appealed directly to both the British and Irish embassies for help.To date, neither has secured his release.The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment. Earlier this month, it emerged that a British woman had been jailed for life in Dubai after being caught at a party last October with 50 grams of cocaine.Mia O'Brien, 24, of Huyton, Merseyside, pleaded not guilty to drug offences but was convicted by a judge after just one day in court, where she was also ordered to pay a fine of £100,000 for the crime.Mia had spent months in the Al Barsha police detention centre before being ordered to languish in Dubai Central Prison - also known as Al Awir - which has been dubbed 'the Middle East's Alcatraz'.The 24-year-old has joined a list of high-profile Britons to be imprisoned in the jail, including Karl Williams who was locked up in 2012 after police found narcotics in his rental car.
