Foreign Office 'failed to protect' Matthew Hedges from UAE torture

The Foreign Office has been told to marque a ceremonial apology to a British world who was accused of spying and tortured successful the United Arab Emirates.

Matthew Hedges, primitively from Exeter, repeatedly denied the accusation and said helium was researching for his Durham University PhD.

He called the Parliamentary Ombudsman's ruling that the Foreign Office failed to support him "a idiosyncratic victory".

The Foreign Office (FCDO) said it would "review the ombudsman's findings".

The watchdog said the section had "missed signs of imaginable torture".

Visits to Mr Hedges by British Embassy officials were ever supervised by guards "who told him what to say" but officials did not instrumentality relationship of "clear signs" helium mightiness person been mistreated, specified arsenic his dependable shaking, his avoidance of oculus interaction and his references to having anxiousness attacks, it said.

FCDO guidelines archer unit to enactment connected informing signs adjacent erstwhile they bash not person consent and "it indispensable person been wide to FCDO unit that helium was not successful a presumption to springiness oregon withhold consent", the watchdog added.

Mr Hedges said the ombudsman's ruling was an "acknowledgement" of what happened.

"It's a idiosyncratic triumph for maine to cognize that it wasn't conscionable my acquisition but others recognised it," helium said.

Mr Hedges was successful Abu Dhabi successful 2018 erstwhile helium was accused of moving for MI6 and "spying for oregon connected behalf of" the UK government

The UAE authorities said worldly recovered connected his laptop proved helium was a spy. He was sentenced to beingness imprisonment but was pardoned by the nation's president days later.

Mr Hedges said helium was kept successful handcuffs and successful solitary confinement, questioned for hours and fed a cocktail of drugs. He said helium was near with station traumatic accent upset and insomnia.

On his merchandise helium complained to the Parliamentary Ombudsman astir the government's response.

The watchdog has present recovered the Foreign Office failed to support him and should wage £1,500 compensation.

Mr Hedges said the wealth was "a paltry sum" but welcomed the apology.

"The astir important happening for my betterment is simply a ceremonial apology from the Foreign Office and for them to admit and to instrumentality changes truthful that different radical who are currently, oregon person been, successful akin circumstances don't person to endure this," helium said.

Chief enforcement of the ombudsman's office, Rebecca Hilsenrath, said the "nightmare" of Mr Hedges' terrifying acquisition was "made adjacent worse by being failed by the British government".

"He trusted them to assistance him and they fto him down," she said.

The FCDO said it had "worked extensively connected this case" and raised it astatine ministerial level "on aggregate occasions".

A spokesperson said: "The champion interests of British nationals, including those detained overseas, is astatine the bosom of our consular enactment and we enactment their families wherever we can."