Ryan Pepper’s terrified relatives say the father has expressed in increasingly dark handwritten messages how he fears for his safety in a Dubai prison, where he has been held for months
The terrified family of a dad who was detained Dubai without explanation have said they fear he could die there as they were told about the horror conditions at the facility where he is being kept.
Ryan Pepper, 27, has been locked up in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) without explanation since November 3, 2025, without meaningful contact with his loved ones, according to campaigning organisation Detained in Dubai. He has not been charged with anything, it is believed.
Ryan, the group says, has reported being physical and psychological abused, and allegedly threatened by his captors, all the while British officials reportedly struggle access him.
The family, which has raised safeguarding concerns following notes from the dad, has since told how they fear Ryan will not live through the “hell” to which he claims he is being subject.
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The family told Detained in Dubai, which provides legal assistance to foreigners being held in the UAE, that Ryan was held without phone access for months, meaning the dad has only been able to communicate through handwritten notes smuggled from custody. In the notes, he has alleged police “kidnapped and robbed” his fellow detainees and described the facility as “hell”.
Chloe, his sister, said the family was initially led to believe that Ryan would be deported home, but his messages became increasingly dark and frightening.
Chloe, from Ashford, Kent, told 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 said they were later contacted by another detainee who told them Ryan was abued and held in confinement for 20 days.
Ryan was then rushed to hospital, after what he claimed were escalating and brutal beatings that left him with teeth so damaged he required inpatient treatment.
Detained in Dubai states that the family was handed information suggesting the hospital treatment was related to assaults in custody, rather than an official line from the UAE that insisted it was due to complications from a previous surgery. The organisation added that British Embassy officials had tried to visit, and had arranged to see Ryan in-person but claimed the appointment was cancelled over “short-term restrictions”.
Ryan, who moved to Dubai in May last year, hoping for a fresh start after a relationship breakdown, also told his family that detainees had been threatened before meeting British officials, and said he did not feel safe speaking openly. However, on returning from a trip to New York in November, he was arrested along with a group of other people and has been imprisoned 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 one of several people currently being advised by the organisation, with other Brit families also left terrified that their loved ones could be suffering behind bars.
Brits have died in Dubai custody in the past, with dad Lee Bradley Brown having died in 2011 after he was allegedly beaten and denied proper care. Chloe said she and her family are “begging for proof our loved one is safe” adding: “No family should have to live like this.” The Daily Mirror has contacted the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for comment.
