A British father allegedly found with £2,000 cocaine in Dubai has been sentenced to four decades behind bars in a ‘hellhole’ jail.

Sam Dorman, 33, from Glossop, Derbyshire, was taken into custody following a police operation earlier this month.

He was said to be in possession of half a gram of the Class A substance when he was arrested last week. 

After this, local police are believed to have discovered 28g of the drug at his property.

In Britain that is estimated to be worth around £2,000 – but in the United Arab Emirates it could sell for three times more. 

Dubai is well-renowned for its zero tolerance when it comes to the drugs trade.

The father-of-one, who had migrated to Dubai in 2022 to start a business, was first arrested last week. 

Last Monday, the barber and tattoo artist was sentenced to 40 years behind bars at Al-Awir Central Prison, infamous for its poor conditions and brutality. 

Sam Dorman, 33, (pictured) from Glossop, Derbyshire, was reportedly caught with £2,000 worth of cocaine in Dubai

Last Monday the barber and tattoo artist was sentenced to 40 years behind bars at Al-Awir Central Prison, infamous for its poor conditions and brutality

A source said Dorman’s family were ‘understandably distraught’ after the tattoo artist was locked away in the ‘hellhole’ prison

A source told The Sun: ‘He’s got a young daughter in the UK, so to be serving 40 years is really sad.

‘He won’t be out till he’s in his 70s.’

The prison where he is being held is a high-security jail miles away from the Emirates’ famed beaches, which houses death row inmates, murderers, terrorists and violent gangsters.

The brutal lock-up is located in the middle of arid Dubai desert, where scorching temperatures can reach a hellish 50 degrees in the summer.

Rape is an ‘every day occurrence’, according to a report from earlier this year, with violent assaults carried out both by inmates and guards.

Al-Awir houses male and female criminals in separate buildings. Prisoners must have a shaved head at all times, starting when they enter and they are punished if their hair gets long, while women reportedly have to wear head coverings.

Punishments include bans on TV and calls to home, with phone access severely limited regardless. Prisoners are rarely allowed visitors.

Prisoners are packed into overcrowded cells, with 20 inmates battling for three beds. Others are often left to suffer with horrific illnesses with little to no medical care, while some have been jailed after having allegedly been tortured into giving confessions.

A policeman enters Dubai’s Al-Awir central prison in the United Arab Emirates

A doctor shows a hallway at the medical centre of Al-Awir prison during the Covid pandemic

The insider said Dorman’s family was ‘understandably distraught’ after the tattoo artist was locked away in the ‘hellhole’ prison.

They added: ‘When they spoke to him, it looked like he’d taken a battering. I just hope someone can help him.’

The source went on to claim the father-of-one became a part of ‘the wrong crowd’ while in the Middle Eastern country. 

They believed a customer, who Dorman had sold drugs to, had been apprehended by the police.

They claimed police then took his phone and messaged the tattoo artist, in a bid to pretend to be the buyer and asked for more.  

‘Sam stupidly went and the police were waiting. At this point he was nabbed,’ they added. 

The Foreign Office said: ‘We are supporting a British man detained in Dubai.’