Category: Business

A 23-year-old influencer charged with murder and held in a notorious Dubai detention centre has been banned from calling home, her concerned family has claimed.

Brooke George, who hails from Kent, could be executed by a firing squad if she is convicted of murdering a man she met online, William Treeby, 26, in June this year.

She claims that she acted in self-defence after he allegedly attacked her – and since being arrested at the airport while trying to flee back to the UK, she has been locked up at an infamous detention centre.

According to advocacy group Detained in Dubai, George’s loved ones have expressed serious concerns about the conditions she is being kept in at the notorious Bur Dubai police detention centre.

The content creator – known for sharing beauty routines and lip-syncing videos on social media – is said to be sleep-deprived and has now reportedly been forbidden from making international phone calls.

During the very brief communication she has had recently with her mother Tess, George complained that bright lights remain on in every room around the clock, leaving her unable to sleep.

The mum has said she is becoming increasingly ‘worried about her mental state‘ after George’s trial was adjourned until 28 October last week, meaning she will have to endure at least another few weeks at the detention centre.

Detained in Dubai said that the facility was ‘never designed for long-term habitation’ in its latest update on George’s case, adding: “British citizens who were locked up there for only hours during the Iran strikes were terrified at the thought of spending days there, let alone months.”

The latest update on George’s trial

George was arrested at Dubai International Airport in June and taken into custody and charged with murder after Treeby was fatally stabbed.

This is a crime that can carry the death penalty in the UAE – meaning she could be executed by a firing squad.

The young woman met Treeby online, according to reports, before the pair developed a relationship which led to her flying out to Dubai to meet him.

But on her second visit to the holiday hotspot, she claims Treeby became controlling and exhibited abusive behaviour.

After an argument between them allegedly turned violent, George reached for a kitchen knife in what she claims was an act of self-defence.

Her latest court hearing took place last Wednesday (8 October), but Detained in Dubai said that prosecution witnesses who had been summoned to attend did not turn up. As a result, her trial was adjourned until 28 October.

The court ordered her continued detention while it awaits evidence from the remaining witnesses.

George’s prolonged stay at the Bur Dubai police detention centre has taken a significant toll on her mental state, according to her relatives.

Her mother Tess told Detained in Dubai that as well as the lights remaining on constantly, the cries of babies and children nearby also make it difficult to sleep.

George was reportedly told she would receive medication to aid her sleep, but campaigners say she has still not been given any – while her contact with the outside world is allegedly being restricted.

“She can’t sleep,” Tess said. “She can barely call home. I’m getting very worried about her mental state.”

Tess alleges that the recent calls she had with her daughter were ‘cut off after approximately two minutes’ and that the 23-year-old ‘has now been told she cannot make international calls’.

Brit, 23, is ‘suffering terribly’ behind bars

The founder of Detained in Dubai, Radha Stirling, said that George is ‘suffering terribly’ at the detention centre and is becoming ‘increasingly upset’.

“Her mother is left wondering how much worse things will become before she hears her daughter’s voice again,” she explained. “Two minutes on the telephone, followed by an abrupt disconnection, is distressing for everyone involved.

“For Brooke, those calls are a lifeline. For her family, they are the only opportunity to hear how she is coping and offer some reassurance.”

Amid the delay in George’s trial, Stirling has called for the concerns around the Brit’s wellbeing to be ‘addressed now’, adding: “Her health cannot be put on hold until the next court hearing.”

The campaign group said it is working to secure her access to medical care, sleep medication where clinically appropriate, and reliable telephone contact with her family.

“We will do everything we can to help,” Stirling said. “Brooke needs to know she has not been forgotten. Her family needs to be able to speak to her, and her worsening distress needs proper medical attention.

“Whatever the allegations, she is entitled to humane treatment while her case is heard.”

For most teenagers, the most important thing in their lives is hanging out with friends and surviving school.

But for budding entrepreneur Harrison Nott, his goals have always been in the world of business.

After completing his GCSEs, the 16-year-old decided against going to college to pursue his business dreams full time.

A pretty bold move for a teenager to make – until you factor in that Nott is the owner of CoolTowel, a business backed by Rio Ferdinand.

“It just changed my whole life.”

Nott originally came up with the idea at the age of 13, after scouring the market to find a cooling towel and coming up short.

Spotting a gap in the market, Nott came up with CoolTowel, a specially engineered towel which is designed to evaporate heat alongside moisture.

Which is certainly something that would’ve been handy to have during the many heatwaves of 2026.

After coming up with the idea, Nott was able to secure funding after winning the Alibaba.com CoCreate Pitch competition earlier this year, beating 15,000 entrepreneurs from across the globe and taking home £150,000.

The cash wasn’t the only prize which Nott walked away with, as his invention had also caught the eye of footy ace Ferdinand.

“At that moment it was a bit of a blur. I couldn’t believe Rio Ferdinand had taken my number,” Nott recalled.

“This was during my GCSEs, so it was a lot of emotions at once. I was a bit overwhelmed really. I was very excited and optimistic for how he could help.

“Having that name backing the business is quite a significant thing so it was a no-brainer when he offered to spend his time on it.”

Nott now sells his towels through online retailers such as TikTok Shop and Shopify, securing 80,000 sales so far this year.

He was also flown out to Los Angeles to pitch his creation, mingling with the likes of James Corden and former Manchester United star Javier Hernández, which certainly sounds better than studying for your A levels.

The success of the business also saw Nott decide against pursuing further education, deciding instead to dedicate himself full-time to a business which has generated revenue of over £750,000.

“It is strange,” Nott said of the decision. “All of my friends are going to college and seeing each other, and I am on a different path, which was a bit sad, but it was a sacrifice that had to be made.”

Growing the business hasn’t been without its issues either, as Nott has faced a number of issues when it came to scaling his business. After selling out of all of his stock in just two days, Nott decided to open a pre-order system, but closed it down as cancelled pre-orders could threaten the business.

There were also issues with the pre-orders on TikTok Shop, which stopped them from selling for a couple of months.

Nott was also targeted by scammers who copied his ideas, with one brand even getting 20,000 orders off the back of his idea.

He has yet to see a profit from the business, with advertising campaigns and affiliate commissions also eating into the £750,000.

Despite the setbacks, Nott is positive that he’ll soon be able to turn a profit from the business.

“The future is looking a bit brighter. We have got big plans,” he added. “It is not just a business in my bedroom anymore, it is a brand that is helping people properly.

“It isn’t physical cash in bank yet, but I have got a lot of stock and assets. If we keep going, we should break even.”

Experts have highlighted the difference between smoking tobacco and vaping as a doctor explains which one is worse.

The health risks associated with smoking have been well documented by decades’ worth of medical studies, linking smoking tobacco to cancer, heart disease, as well as a whole host of other health conditions and heightened risks.

Vaping is growing in popularity as a habit in its own right, and while there is still a need for further study on its precise health impacts some evidence already points to the habit coming with health risks.

Dr Rayyan Zafar explained that while both smoking and vaping are bad for you, smoking tobacco is still much worse, whether it’s cigarettes, cigars, or if you somehow manage to sustain smoking a pipe in 2026.

NHS guidance suggests that vaping can be useful as a way for someone who already smokes tobacco to reduce the harm done to them as a result, but if you do not already smoke then the advice is to not take up vaping as while it has not been shown to be as harmful as tobacco, it is still not safe.

Michael Joseph Blaha is the director of clinical research at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease, and shared how there is still a risk with vaping.

“People need to understand that e-cigarettes are potentially dangerous to your health,” said Blaha.

But what exactly are the differences between vaping and smoking tobacco?

The health risks associated with tobacco smoke, which contains thousands of harmful chemicals, are well understood.

While the risks with vaping need to be studied further, Blaha warned there is already evidence of a link between

“Emerging data suggests links to chronic lung disease and asthma, as well as associations between dual use of e-cigarettes and smoking with cardiovascular disease. You’re exposing yourself to all kinds of chemicals that we don’t yet understand and that are probably not safe.”

However there is one factor where cigarettes are the same – they both contain nicotine.

And Blaha warned that while vapes are not as closely understood as tobacco, people who use e-cigarettes may be taking in a higher quantity of nicotine than they would be if they were smoking tobacco.

For example, people can buy cartridges with a higher strength than regular ones, or they can turn up the voltage on the e-cigarette to give them a bigger hit from the vape.

And although NHS guidance suggests that vaping can be a way to reduce harm from smoking tobacco, Blaha expressed concern about people who are taking vaping as a habit in itself, and who don’t already smoke.

“What I find most concerning about the rise of vaping is that people who would’ve never smoked otherwise, especially youth, are taking up the habit,” said Blaha.

“It’s one thing if you convert from cigarette smoking to vaping. It’s quite another thing to start up nicotine use with vaping. And, getting hooked on nicotine often leads to using traditional tobacco products down the road.”

A mum who says she tried to save a man from jumping into the tiger enclosure before a horror incident at a wildlife park has spoken out about the ordeal.

Emergency services were contacted shortly after 1.30pm on 10 October when a man had entered the enclosure at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, South Yorkshire Police have said, with the park still remaining closed amid investigations.

Videos circulating online appear to show a man being pawed at and grappled by a tiger named Altai in the enclosure at the park, near Doncaster.

The park said ‘many, many people’ had contacted them about Altai, the Amur tiger involved in the incident, and it confirmed he is ‘safe and well’ and will not be euthanised.

Visitors who were observing the big cats later revealed how panic ensued as they watched the man grapple with the tiger.

A video appears to show the victim sat next to the tiger before being clawed at as he appeared to try and communicate with the animal and was heard shouting “Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.”

One witness told LADbible they saw ‘staff running around’ frantically and ushering people towards the exit, ‘but wouldn’t say anything about why’.

Now, witnesses have told how a mum tried to save the man from jumping into the enclosure.

Eyewitnesses claimed the victim, who has not been named, posed for a photo with the big cat in the background moments before jumping in from a viewing platform.

Anthony Hunt and his girlfriend Scarlet Hogan, who were visiting the park on Saturday, told The Telegraph that a woman with two children ‘desperately tried to pull back’ the man as he tried to get into the compound.

“He overpowered her and jumped off. She seemed really frightened,” Hunt told the publication. “We spoke to her after and she was like, ‘I tried to pull him back’ but I guess she didn’t want to risk her own life as well.”

Hogan added: “The man started praying to the tiger, bowing down to it – the tiger looked a bit confused.

“Up until he got attacked, it was like he was in a trance, not in reality at all. We were just stood there, frozen.”

One animal expert later shared a theory that the tiger did not mean to kill the man initially and that it appeared as though it was ‘playing’ with him.

Park remains closed after tiger attack

It was understood the wildlife park would reopen on Monday (12 October) after it was evacuated following the incident and remained closed on Sunday.

But in a message sent to ticketholders on Monday morning, the park said: “Due to the serious incident that occurred at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday, the 10th of October, unfortunately the park remains closed for the whole of Monday, the 12th October.

“Anyone with a booking for this date will be contacted within the next five working days with details of how to reschedule your booking.

“We apologise for the late notice any inconvenience caused.”

In a previous statement on social media, the wildlife park said people had contacted them about Altai before it was confirmed he is ‘safe and well’ and will not be euthanised following the incident.

It added that members of park staff were ‘deeply affected’ by the incident and receiving specialist support.

South Yorkshire Police meanwhile said it is aware of the footage of the attack online and asked people not to share it.

A spokesperson previously said: “At 1.35pm today (Saturday 10 October) we received reports of a man entering a tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. The tiger subsequently attacked the man, resulting in serious injury.

“Emergency services attended and sadly, despite the best efforts of medical personnel, the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

“The man’s family is aware and is being supported by specialist officers. Our thoughts are with them at this distressing time.

“Regarding rumours surrounding the condition of the tiger, the animal was uninjured and remained in the enclosure following the incident and there is no wider risk to the public.

“Following the incident, Yorkshire Wildlife Park was evacuated and officers remain on scene carrying out enquiries. We are aware of videos circulating online and we would encourage people not to share this footage.”