DUBAI PRISON SENTENCE LOOMS FOR HAMPSTEAD
TELEVISION EXECUTIVE

Hampstead TV executive Cat Le-Huy is facing four years in a Dubai jail
after hashish weighing less than a grain of sugar was found in his
bag.

Friends and family have been told this week by the Dubai authorities
that the Garnett Road businessman faces being imprisoned after a
microscopic trace of the drug was found in dirt in his bag.

Mr Le-Huy, head of technology at Endemol, makers of big Brother, has
been held for three weeks without charge after flying into the United
Arab Emirates on January 26.

At first customs authorities said he was being held for carrying
suspicious jet leg pills, but they now allege finding 0.03grammes of
hashish - an amount so small it can't be seen by the naked eye.

A fighting fund has been set up to cover Mr Le-Huy's legal fees with
UKP25,000 already flooding in from friends, family and supporters.

"I am sure if I went to Shepherds Bush where he worked and picked up
some soil I would find traces of drugs and it's such a small amount it
could even be off someone he brushed past," said friend Radha Sterling.

We have asked for independent testing of the dirt and to know what
equipment they are using but they have refused. Personally I don't
think there are any drugs whatsoever."

Dubai authorities have successfully applied to hold 31-year-old Mr
Le-Huy him until the end of March - when he faces being charged and
served a UAE mandatory drug sentence of four years behind bars.