The HullaBoard - DJ Grooverider sentenced to 4 years in prison in Dubai

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DJ Grooverider sentenced to 4 years in prison in Dubai

old artice, but didn't see it mentioned.

note to EVERYONE, NEVER go to Dubai, ever. Especially if you are any color other than brown and not wearing a smock.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/ne...icle3395661.ece

Radio 1 DJ Grooverider given four-year jail term for cannabis smuggling

Lawyers for Grooverider had argued that he was unaware of the strict laws in Dubai. The Radio 1 DJ Grooverider has been sentenced to a four-year prison term in Dubai after admitting to carrying cannabis into the country.

Grooverider – whose real name is Raymond Bingham – told judges at previous court appearance: “The drugs were in my possession and I forgot I had them in my trousers.”

He was convicted yesterday and given the minimum sentence for drug possession in the United Arab Emirates, where deeply conservative laws sometimes collide with the liberal values of the millions of tourists who visit each year.

Grooverider’s lawyers had tried to argue in his defence that he was unaware of the laws.

The 40-year-old DJ, who co-hosts the weekly BBC Radio 1 drum-and bass programme Fabio and Grooverider, was arrested at Dubai airport on November 23, with 2.16 grams of cannabis in his pockets just hours before he was due to play a sold-out show at a popular nightclub.

“I just want this to end and to never come back. It was a small amount. Back home I would not even get prosecuted,” he previously stated, in a published interview from jail.

A BBC spokesman said: “He made a serious mistake and is paying a very high price.” Grooverider has been off the air since his arrest last November.

Although not officially suspended by Radio 1 it is understood that the BBC is not paying him a salary, as the DJ is paid for each show he presents. Bingham has provided his own legal representation.

Drugs are strictly banned in the United Arab Emirates, however there have been several high-profile cases of foreigners being jailed for smuggling small amounts into the country.

A British tourist, Keith Brown, spent four years in jail for the possession of 0.002 grams of cannabis. Bert Tatham, a Canadian UN official who advised the Afghan government was also jailed for carrying 0.5 grams of hashish and two poppy seeds into the country.

The rulers of Dubai later issued Mr Tatham a rare pardon, deporting him to Canada. Highlighting a new crackdown on drug smuggling, the UAE recently installed new drug-sensitive detecting equipment in its airports.

Grooverider, who made his name DJing at illegal warehouse parties, is recognised as a pioneer of the abrasive style of dance music known as drum and bass.

He is a recording artist and record label owner in his own right and an in-demand DJ on the international club circuit. His colleague Fabio will continue to present the Radio 1 show in his absence.

The former Radio 1 DJ Kevin Greening died of a heart attack last year, aged 44, after taking large quantities of cocaine, ecstasy and the drug GHB.

dubai is fucking amazing. he deserves a 4 year prison sentence. don't fuck around with illegal shit and you'll never do time.

yeah no sympathy at all

if you know youre going to a country that is that strict on drugs, and youre a pothead and have to smoke weed, then you should be checking everything you take with you 6 times before you leave the house to get on the plane

dumb move, go directly to jail
do not pass go, do not collect $20,000 for playing the show in dubai

Quote:

Originally Posted by No Typical Raver

dubai is fucking amazing. he deserves a 4 year prison sentence. don't fuck around with illegal shit and you'll never do time.

bullshit.

A bunch of fucking bullshit racism going on there. You are a fool NTR. According to people that have been imprisoned there, it is full or Europeans who have done absolutely nothing wrong.

This guys was sent to prison for having .0003 grams of cannabis stuck to his shoe. What if he stepped on it? What drove the police to pull this man aside and litterally search him down to the molecular level. It's harrasment, its racism. They seem to have plenty of money, and don't seem to really want to intice tourism with this kind of shenanigans.

Quote:

A father-of-three who was found with a microscopic speck of cannabis stuck to the bottom of one of his shoes has been sentenced to four years in a Dubai prison.

Keith Brown, a council youth development officer, was travelling through the United Arab Emirates on his way back to England when he was stopped as he walked through Dubai's main airport.

A search by customs officials uncovered a speck of cannabis weighing just 0.003g - so small it would be invisible to the naked eye and weighing less than a grain of sugar - on the tread of one of his shoes.

Dubai International Airport is a major hub for the Middle East and thousands of Britons pass through it every year to holiday in the glamorous beach and shopping haven.

But many of those tourists and business travellers are likely to be unaware of the strict zero-tolerance drugs policy in the UAE.

One man has even been jailed for possession of three poppy seeds left over from a bread roll he ate at Heathrow Airport. Painkiller codeine is also banned.

If suspicious of a traveller, customs officials can use high-tech equipment to uncover even the slightest trace of drugs.

Mr Brown was detained and arrested in September last year and has been held in a cell with three other men in the city prison ever since.

This week the youth worker, who has two young children and a partner at home in Smethwick, West Midlands, was sentenced to four years in prison.

A 25-year-old Briton who was found with a similar speck in one pocket as he arrived on holiday has been awaiting sentence since November.

Meanwhile a Big Brother TV executive has so far been held without charge for five days after being arrested for possessing the health supplement melatonin.

The authorities claim to have discovered 0.01g of hashish in his luggage.

Last night Mr Brown's brother Lee said his case "defied belief".

"For that sort of amount common sense should prevail, from where it was found it was obviously something that had been crushed on the floor - it could have come from anywhere."

Rastafarian Mr Brown had been returning from a short trip to Ethiopia, where one of his children lives and where he owns property.

He was travelling with his partner Imani, who was also stopped and detained for more than a week.

Normally he flew direct to and from the UK, but decided to stop off in Dubai.

"He was incensed when he called me," said driving instructor Lee, 57. "It would be funny if the circumstances weren't so unpleasant.

"Bugs are crawling out of his mattress when he's sleeping. His family are frantic with worry and can't call him."

Last night campaign group Fair Trials International advised visitors to Dubai and Abu Dhabi to "take extreme caution".

Chief Executive Catherine Wolthuizen said: "We have seen a steep increase in such cases over the last 18 months.

"Customs authorities are using highly sensitive new equipment to conduct extremely thorough searches on travellers and if they find any amount - no matter how minute - it will be enough to attract a mandatory four-year prison sentence."

Mrs Wolthuizen added: "We even have reports of the imprisonment of a Swiss man for 'possession' of three poppy seeds on his clothing after he ate a bread roll at Heathrow.

Cat Le-Huy

Held: A campaign is underway to secure the release of Cat Le-Huy from a Dubai jail

"What many travellers may not realise is that they can be deemed to be in possession of such banned substances if they can be detected in their urine or bloodstream, or even in tiny, trace amounts on their person."

Only two months after Mr Brown was stopped economics graduate Robert Dalton was detained in almost identical circumstances.

Mr Dalton, from Gravesend, on Kent was with two friends when he was stopped and asked to empty his pockets.

Officials found 0.03g of cannabis in a small amount of fluff. He is currently on trial and if convicted, is likely receive a four-year prison sentence.

Last night his brother Peter, 26, told how it took 24 hours to find out why he had been stopped.

"As we understand, the amount of cannabis was barely visible to the human eye and was at the bottom of the pocket of an old pair of jeans.

"He's not a drug user, but he goes clubbing and the speck was so small."

Last week Cat Le-Huy, a London-based German national, was arrested on arrival at the airport.

Mr Le-Huy, 31, head of technology with Big Brother production company Endemol, was arrested on suspicion of possessing illegal drugs after customs officers found melatonin, a health supplement used for jet lag available over the counter both in Dubai and in the US.

Authorities also claim they discovered fragments in one of his bags which they believe to be hashish. Fair Trials International said the amount was 0.01g.

theres a bit of a difference between that and

Quote:

Grooverider – whose real name is Raymond Bingham – told judges at previous court appearance: “The drugs were in my possession and I forgot I had them in my trousers.”

*edit*

i should add that i never have had or will ever have plans to go to dubai ever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tikachu

theres a bit of a difference between that and

Oh no doubt about it... he admitted he was wrong. No question.

BUT... does he deserve 4 years in a hellacious Dubai prison for it?

I mean honest mistakes happen, like 10 years ago I forgot I had a switchblade in my backpack and tried to get on a plane. They pulled it out and said I had to throw it away... no biggie. Mistakes happen.

I even know a guy who accidently took a handgun to the airport in his camera bag, his wife had stored it (unloaded, & on safe) in the bag, and he didn't realize. After a lot of questioning they realized it was a mistake and they let him go.

no, i dont believe that he should be in for 4 years, nor do i believe that any of the people that did NOTHING wrong should be in there at all. tbh if they are that worried about it they should extradite him to the UK and let them deal with it, and he'll get nothing. but since it seems rare that people get pardons, welp..

but srsly, if you know you are going to a place that has laws like that wouldnt you check your shit over like 50 times before leaving? i sure as hell would. the chances of them finding anything on him would be very very slight if he would have just checked his damn pockets. and this is why i have no sympathy because that was just the stupidest thing the dude ever could have done.

if drugs are illegal where you are or where you're going you deserve punishment if you get caught.

just like the rape case, its not about what's right and what's wrong. it's about THE LAW.

again, NTR you seem to be heartless, rape is fucking rape, no woman deserves that kind of shit. but what pisses me off more than those lowlife scum assholes that commit the crimes is when people like you say it was her fault and its the law, that makes you seem to be just as fucking bad as these assholes that get away with such sick shit!!!!!! *finishes rant* this has gotten me really fired up when i am normally calm and happy. UAE sounds like an almost total police state, just like north korea.

i never said she deserved to be raped.

and seriously, you think i'm a fool? i'm not the one serving 4 years in a middle easter prison!

Quote:

Originally Posted by No Typical Raver

dubai is fucking amazing. he deserves a 4 year prison sentence. don't fuck around with illegal shit and you'll never do time.

I agree, to be honest.

And about the claims of Dubai not wanting tourism, Tourism is one of their largest (perhaps the largest) form of revenue. I would like to visit there some day, as they have some of the most stunning architecture in the world.

And I don't think it's really a case of Dubai being intolerant of culture, but more of tourist being intolerant of theirs. Yes, the shoe thing is insane. But carrying a noticeable amount of weed into a "city" where you should KNOW they are hard as shit on drugs, not to mention a place where the police force is under direct rule of Maktoum himself, you would be fucking careful. This isn't the relaxed western world, where you can just play stuff off cool. They don't give a fuck over there, it doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. Thats what I mean ignorant of their culture. Just cause your hot shit in the UK doesn't mean the Dubai police care.

i want to see the Burj, the world islands, the palm islands, the underwater hotel (6 stars fuckers, beat that) the ski slope indoors in the middle of the desert and THE CARS MY GOD THE CARS

^The underwater hotel is probably my top... maybe the world islands.

"Dubai, for example, is home to the recently opened, sail-shaped Burj al Arab, the world's tallest hotel. Compared to Hydropolis, the 27-story, 1,059-foot (321-meter) hotel is a bargain, with rates topping out at about $1,700 a day. (And that's with free transport to and from the airport via Rolls Royce or helicopter.)"

i can't even imagine how expensive it'd be. although i'm not sure they've even started building yet

I think it's done actually:

i meant Hydropolis, the underwater one

^oh lol.

according to my friend, the internet, it's now scheduled for a 2009 opening. I would GUESS that means they started building it, something like that can't just pop up overnight.

Those hotels look/sound crazy.

Grooverider is kind of a dumbass.

I feel bad for the guy with the pot on his shoe.

Dubai needs to chill out a little.

/2cents

Quote:

Originally Posted by No Typical Raver

i want to see the Burj, the world islands, the palm islands, the underwater hotel (6 stars fuckers, beat that) the ski slope indoors in the middle of the desert and THE CARS MY GOD THE CARS

Kuwait also has an underwater hotel and is a bit more "american friendly"

Quote:

Originally Posted by weava

Those hotels look/sound crazy.

Grooverider is kind of a dumbass.

I feel bad for the guy with the pot on his shoe.

Dubai needs to chill out a little.

/2cents

agreed

Grooverider has been released from prison in Dubai after being pardoned by the country's royal family.
Dotmusic - Friday, September 5 11:05 am

The DJ and former BBC Radio 1 star was freed after serving 10 months of a four-year sentence for drug possession.

He was initially arrested attempting to board a plane in November 2007 and found to be in possession of 2.16 grams of cannabis.

According to reports, Grooverider, real name Raymond Bingham, has already left Dubia and flown back to the UK.

It is currently unclear if he will be given the opportunity to renew his career on British radio.

nice one. since I missed this post before, here's my two cents.

I agree he was stupid for leaving the shit in his pocket, but doesn't deserve 4 years, hell he didn't deserve 10 months. Yes, dubai is crazy. He probably should've known better, but why would you take the insane country's police's side over this and not be outraged at them being fucking crazy in the first place? I read an article about a guy who went to prison there because he had poppy seeds on his pants from a muffin he ate!

The firm I work at designs some of those crazy buildings going up over there and the only way I'd ever ever consider going to dubai is on the company ticket (and insurance). There's just too many crazy police, shit costs way too much (those of you who want to see that hotel, it's about $200 just to walk in. Don't even think about getting food), nothing is finished, not even the roads connected the buildings. Only way I could afford to do anything there is to eat and live in the slums with all the impoverished immigrant workers being forced to build these monstrosities. That Burj Dubai you guys like? There have been several riots, people killed, and buildings destroyed by workers because of the horrible living conditions and pennies they're paid.

I am surprised to see you guys side with these crazy fuckers.

lol... i work for lebanese people...

i really want to visit dubai w/ one of my coworkers...
his parents have a house on the mediteranean sea... LUFF...
i think it would be amazing...

or beirut would be fun too...

i am dark enough, i could totally pass for lebanese, if only i spoke arabic
i should note that speaking arabic really isn't essential in going to lebanon, as part of their educational system they must all learn english and french as well as lebanese...

be careful kyle, they REALLY don't like the gays

oh, i know...

strange as it is... I have yet to encounter any real issues w/ them...

i am openly gay... and they are totally ok w/ it