'Innocent' British grandfather is STRANGLED by fellow inmate in Dubai

A British grandfather jailed in a Dubai prison despite claiming to be innocent is fortunate to be alive after another inmate strangled him with a telephone cord, his son has said.

Albert Douglas, 61, was trying to connect to his family from an Al Barsha prison phone when the inmate attacked him from behind.

Fearing Mr Douglas was having a stroke, call operators immediately phoned his son Wolfgang in the UK, alerting him to his father's situation.

Holding back tears, 36-year-old Wolfgang told The Sun that his father's attacker 'tried their best to strangle him to death.'

He added: 'They called me straight away and said they think he's having a stroke because he's gargling. He wasn't, he was being strangled to death. He is just a frail old man. He is totally and utterly finished now.'

Albert managed to fight his attacker off and was rushed to hospital.

However, he was then thrown into an isolation room without light or fresh air for a month, where his son says he developed scabies.

The Douglas family believe that the inmate - who used the metal cord attached to the prison phone to strangle Albert - carried out the October attack out of jealousy.

Wolfgang told the publication that Albert regularly rings his relatives, and  that Wolfgang has to pay £130 for every 30 minutes he spends on the phone to his father.

The high cost means that many other inmates cannot afford to make calls.

Albert, who hails from London, has in the past described conditions in the maximum security prison as 'medieval' and 'demonic'.

He once lived a luxurious lifestyle in Dubai's Palm Islands, driving around in a Rolls Royce with 'tens of millions' in the bank.

However, his life came crashing down in 2019 when he was arrested and ordered to pay a £2.5million fine after his son's flooring company - which the grandfather has no association with - amassed debts it could not pay back.

According to Detained in Dubai - an organisation that helps people facing legal troubles in the United Arab Emirates - Albert was arrested over a bounced cheque he did not write.

Under Dubai law anyone linked to a company that owes money can be found liable for their debts - and family members are often pursued for payments. 

Because his son was back in Britain when the company got into trouble, creditors took Mr Douglas to court and won a judgement against him instead.

This was despite forensic tests proving the cheque was not his. The 61-year-old was also hit by what he and his lawyers say were trumped-up charges.

He maintains his innocence to this day, and has spent more than £1 million in the courts to clear his name, which to this day has been in vain.

Wolfgang said that in October, a further minimum 'five additional years' were added to his father's sentence by Dubai authorities.

The 36-year-old told The Sun that while his father 'will never cry [...] He is totally and utterly done, he has mentally almost given up.

'This is just horrifying. Everyday he rings you, you just feel like you're being sick inside. 'In five years they'll just add more, for what?' he asked.

Mr Douglas and his wife Naomi emigrated to Dubai in 2003, where he built up a successful business called Alomni Flooring, specialising in real wood floors.

During the massive property boom in the United Arab Emirates, as hotels and holiday homes transformed the country into a top tourist destination, his company thrived.

The father of four lived a luxury lifestyle and persuaded his eldest son Wolfgang to move to Dubai from his home in London.

Wolfgang started the company TimberWolf and his father was one of the signatories on the business. The business relationship ended in 2018 when Albert gave up any involvement.

'I lost everything, the lot's gone,' Albert said in 2021 after his detention. 'Bank accounts, frozen. Stock, gone. Warehouse, ransacked.'  

That year, he also urged MPs to hear his pleas to do something about his dire situation and other British people facing horrific conditions in jail in the UAE. 

He said: 'I just don't want other people to end up in the same situation. Just do something, try. Not just for my sake.

'People haven't got a chance. They have crimes and they need people to be held and found guilty for those crimes to say all crimes have been solved.'