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Brit expat stuck in Spain following wrongful arrest
| Published: | 25 Dec at 6 PM |
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A young British expat is unable to leave Spain after a wrongful arrest led to his passport being confiscated.
Scot expat Robbie McMillar is now demanding answers after he was arrested when police found marijuana plants growing on wild land at the back of his rented apartment. His passport was confiscated during the arrest last October, leaving him unable to find work or return home for the festive season.
Robbie was working out in his gym-cum-garage adjacent to his apartment when La Linea police stormed in and questioned him following their noticing of six marijuana plants growing nearby. He was later arrested, appeared before a judge the following morning, and has been forced to report to police on the first and 15th or every month since the arrest. A graduate from the West of Scotland University, Robbie had arrived in Spain just two weeks before his arrest and can’t understand how and why he was identified as the prime suspect.
Robbie told the Olive Press the offending plants were somewhere between two and four metres tall, and couldn’t have grown that fast during the two weeks he’d occupied his rental apartment immediately after his arrival in the area. To date, he’s been given no details of how his case is progressing, nor has he been provided with a trial date. He’s been unable to take up a promised interview with Gibraltar’s gambling giant BetVictor and has neither his passport nor a Spanish bank account.
According to Robbie’s lawyer, he’s fighting to get his client’s passport returned, but a court date in the near future is unlikely as the system is backed up with untried cases. He believes the accusation needs to be dropped fast as, obviously, his client is innocent. Robbie told reporters this wouldn’t have happened back in Scotland, as it’s totally against human rights which give the freedom to work and live as well as innocence until proven guilty.
Scot expat Robbie McMillar is now demanding answers after he was arrested when police found marijuana plants growing on wild land at the back of his rented apartment. His passport was confiscated during the arrest last October, leaving him unable to find work or return home for the festive season.
Robbie was working out in his gym-cum-garage adjacent to his apartment when La Linea police stormed in and questioned him following their noticing of six marijuana plants growing nearby. He was later arrested, appeared before a judge the following morning, and has been forced to report to police on the first and 15th or every month since the arrest. A graduate from the West of Scotland University, Robbie had arrived in Spain just two weeks before his arrest and can’t understand how and why he was identified as the prime suspect.
Robbie told the Olive Press the offending plants were somewhere between two and four metres tall, and couldn’t have grown that fast during the two weeks he’d occupied his rental apartment immediately after his arrival in the area. To date, he’s been given no details of how his case is progressing, nor has he been provided with a trial date. He’s been unable to take up a promised interview with Gibraltar’s gambling giant BetVictor and has neither his passport nor a Spanish bank account.
According to Robbie’s lawyer, he’s fighting to get his client’s passport returned, but a court date in the near future is unlikely as the system is backed up with untried cases. He believes the accusation needs to be dropped fast as, obviously, his client is innocent. Robbie told reporters this wouldn’t have happened back in Scotland, as it’s totally against human rights which give the freedom to work and live as well as innocence until proven guilty.
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