British man jailed for 37 years in Qatar because of bounced cheque

A 48-year-old British businessman from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire has been jailed for 37 years in Qatar for a bounced cheque.

According to him, he said he may never see his family again.

I may never see my family again'. Jonathan Nash fears he will die behind bars after being given such a draconian sentence despite his minor crime.

Jonathan is desperate to see his two children and elderly mother, Jennie Nash. But last week, he told a friend in a phone conversation that:

I'm not sure that I will ever get out. All my pleas have so far been ignored and I've come to the realisation that I may die in prison or be a very old man if I ever do leave this place. What is causing me the most pain is that I may never see my family again.

I don't know who else to turn to, I guess only the generosity of the Emir to intervene personally on my behalf could help.

Mr Nash has been languishing in the Central Prison, in the Qatari capital of Doha, for three years. The grim jail houses as many as 12 prisoners to one dirty, cockroach-infested cell with inmates having to either bed down on a paper thin mattress or the rock solid floor.

Associate Isabella Alexandra handed a letter to the Qatari Embassy in central London on Monday appealing directly to the country's Emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who has the authority to pardon any prisoner on merciful or humanitarian grounds. Miss Alexandra said: 'The sentence Mr Nash received was grossly disproportionate, and more applicable to someone convicted of a violent crime.

There were several legal errors over the course of his trials; including the fact that he was denied the right to appeal the verdicts. Jonathan has a young family; he did not intend for the cheques to bounce, he did not profit from them, and the decision to refuse payment was not his. We appealed to the Emir of Qatar to consider all of these circumstances, and we hope for a wise and compassionate response."

Mr Nash was CEO for Top House, a company based in Doha, which offers Technical, commercial and management services to the local construction industry. In the oil-rich Middle Eastern state, it is normal practise to write cheques in advance, as assurance of payment in the future.

However, Mr Nash believes he was the victim of a dirty tricks campaign which saw lies and rumours spread about him, prompting many of his clients to lose confidence and hastily cash the cheques he had written on behalf of the company.

Daily mail