British father-of-three held in Baghdad jail says his cell was infested with rats ‘as significant as cats’ 

A British father who was held in Iraq above an alleged unpaid financial debt has advised of the dreadful ailments he endured in prison where by he saw rats as significant as cats.

Brian Glendinning, 43, claimed he ‘pressed the pause button’ on his existence throughout two months in jail where having by the times was just ‘survival’.

He experienced been contracted to do the job at an oil refinery in Iraq but was arrested on an Interpol purple detect at Baghdad Airport on September 12 about an alleged debt owed to the Qatar National Bank.

The father of a few was inevitably freed just after campaigning by the Interpol and Extradition Reform (Ipex) initiative, and returned to Scotland on November 19.

Scottish design engineer Brian Glendinning, 43, comes again at Edinburgh airport following his release just after two months in Iraqi

Glendinning with his wife and daughters immediately after arriving at Edinburgh airport subsequent his release soon after two months in Iraqi jail

Glendinning is greeted by his mother Meta just after arriving in Edinburgh

He described his experiences to Ipex founder Radha Stirling, who hosts the Gulf in Justice Podcast.

Mr Glendinning said rats infested the toilets in the mobile he shared, earning it hard to sleep.

He claimed: ‘I looked and saw this rat run past, this point was the size of a cat. They came out the toilet, it was just a hole in the ground.

‘If you have seen Trainspotting and the rest room scene in that, it was 10 situations even worse, it was just rats all over the place.

‘For 4 evenings I watched these these rats all evening and never slept.’

While he sooner or later managed to snooze following realising the rats did not depart the rest room space, he reported he had to endure consistent noise and no incredibly hot h2o during his time in prison.

He claimed: ‘The mental torture every working day, it was the sounds, rabble and voices, a supporter, there was a generator suitable outdoors the window, the fumes coming from the generator, sore head.’

The father of three, who experienced been functioning at an oil refinery in Iraq, was arrested on an Interpol purple recognize at Baghdad airport on September 12 over an alleged debt owed to the Qatar Nationwide Bank

Glendenning is satisfied by wife Kimberly and daughter Lexi at Edinburgh Airport

Mr Glendinning stated he saw police hitting other prisoners and that when he was not strike himself, the guards ended up ‘heavy handed’ with him, pushing him as he walked along.

He explained that he initially feared he would be extradited to Qatar and would have to invest two decades in jail.

Asked about the worst moments of his ordeal, he explained to Ms Stirling: ‘The worst matter was the preliminary cellular phone phone back again property to convey to them that, ‘by the way, I am locked up here and I really don’t consider I am receiving out’.

‘And then when I essentially managed to get hold of the official paperwork and study the words and phrases ‘you had been sentenced to two many years in jail in Qatar in 2017 in your absence, Qatar needed you extradited’, and my planet just fell aside.

‘I’d presently fastened in my head the mobile phone phone to Kimberley (his spouse) stating, ‘listen, just get on with everyday living, I am not likely to be there, do not even trouble coming out here to see me’. I failed to want the young children coming out here, I essentially just wrote myself off then.

‘When I acquired in there I pressed the pause button on my lifestyle, and when I obtained again out I pressed engage in again, but I thought that pause button was going to be on a ton for a longer time than what it was.

‘That wasn’t lifestyle in there, to me, that was survival, an existence, and it truly is anything I will not want to keep in mind all over again, that’s why I pressed pause.’

Mr Glendinning, from Kincardine, Fife, explained he is amazingly grateful to friends and household and everybody who worked to convey him home.

He said: ‘The best time was the working day I read I was acquiring out, I hardly ever even understood it was coming. And right after that it was when the airplane touched down at Edinburgh Airport and I realized I was household.’

Ms Stirling said: ‘I am privileged to have been ready to aid this dear family members who I have occur to know.

‘I’m grateful for their strength and commitment in supporting the marketing campaign to free Brian.’