World3 min(s) read
Published 13:28 25 Jun 2026 GMT
A young British woman is facing the death penalty in Dubai after being charged with murdering a man she claims she stabbed in self-defence.
Brooke George, 23, from Kent, travelled to Dubai after meeting the British man on Facebook.
The ex-department store assistant is now being held in the notoriously tough Bur Dubai prison after she was accused of killing the man with a kitchen knife following an altercation at an apartment after the pair returned from a night out at Caffreys Bar in Jumeirah Village.
Reportedly, George claimed that after she was attacked, she reached "for a kitchen knife within her grasp" and "acted in self-defence".
The influencer, with almost 100,000 followers on TikTok, is believed to have organized a flight home but was arrested at Dubai International Airport as she attempted to leave the country in the early hours of Monday, June 22.
George’s family is being represented by a pressure organisation, Detained in Dubai, which is urging authorities to treat the incident as a domestic abuse case and to release George on bail pending an investigation, after she claimed she was denied legal representation and subjected to humiliating treatment in custody.
According to her family, George claims that she was denied a lawyer and "forced to strip naked in front of male officers, without any female officers present". She described the experience as "deeply humiliating and distressing, breaking down in tears when recounting it to her family".
In a statement released by Detained in Dubai, George's mother, Thereza, said: “As Brooke's mother, I am deeply concerned for her welfare. The daughter I spoke to that night was utterly terrified. I firmly believe she was desperately trying to get home and away from whatever had happened to her.”
CEO of Detained in Dubai, Radha Stirling, said, "We will be working to ensure that [George's] rights are protected, that she receives a fair trial, and that the circumstances leading to this tragedy are fully and impartially examined.”
She also drew attention to human rights violations that the people her organization represent are allegedly subjected to, saying, "Over recent years, there have been increasing reports of women, including social media influencers, models and young travellers, being lured to Dubai with promises of luxury lifestyles, paid work, holidays or romantic relationships, only to later allege that they were subjected to forced attendance at porta-potty parties, sexual exploitation, coercion, violence or other degrading treatment.
"International organisations and law enforcement agencies have documented cases in which women were recruited under false pretences for the purpose of exploitation, including trafficking."
