British TikTok influencer faces Dubai murder charge

A 23-year-old British TikTok influencer has been charged with premeditated murder in Dubai after allegedly stabbing her boyfriend to death, while her family and an advocacy group say she acted in self-defense during a violent attack.

Brooke George, from Gravesend, Kent, faces possible execution by firing squad if convicted under UAE law, according to Detained in Dubai, a human rights and legal advocacy group campaigning on her behalf. The group said George, a former John Lewis and department store worker, was arrested in the early hours of June 22 and is being held at Bur Dubai Police Station.

The man, described by CBS News as an unidentified 26-year-old, met George online through Facebook, according to Detained in Dubai. The BBC described him as her boyfriend. Dubai police have charged George with premeditated murder.

Detained in Dubai said George first traveled to the city after developing an online relationship with the man and described that visit as “the time of my life.” The group said she was “wrapped up in the joy of the experience,” but had concerns, including over a “bikini clad professional photo shoot arranged during her first visit.”

On her second trip, the group said, the relationship changed. Radha Stirling, chief executive of Detained in Dubai, said George claimed the man became “increasingly controlling and abusive.” The group said George told friends that “things weren’t right” and became alarmed after discovering he had booked her only a one-way ticket.

According to the advocacy group, George was trying to leave Dubai after the man allegedly punched her, withheld her passport and attacked her again at their apartment. Detained in Dubai said that after a night at an Irish bar, the man became intoxicated and “assaulted her in the car before continuing the attack after they returned to the apartment.”

“The family say she was crying and begging for her passport’s return when she was punched hard in the face and attacked,” Detained in Dubai said. “Brooke says she feared for her life and, reaching for a kitchen knife within her grasp, acted in self defense.”

George’s mother, Thereza George, said her daughter’s demeanor had changed before the incident.

“After Brooke returned to Dubai for the second time, the dynamic between them had clearly changed,” she said in a statement released through Detained in Dubai. “The day before the incident, she did not seem like herself. She was quieter and not her usual happy, cheerful self, but she did not tell me why.”

She said that when she spoke to her daughter after the alleged stabbing, George was “absolutely terrified.”

“I have never seen my daughter so frightened in my life,” she said. “She was crying uncontrollably. I could see that one of her eyes was badly swollen and was beginning to close.”

Detained in Dubai said George has alleged that while in custody she was forced to strip naked in front of male officers without a female officer present, an experience she described as “deeply humiliating and distressing.” The group also said she has not been allowed access to the British embassy and has been forced to give statements without a lawyer present.

The Dubai Police and UAE Embassy did not immediately respond to CBS News requests for comment on the allegations made by George and her family through the advocacy group.

Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are in touch with a British woman detained in the UAE, we are supporting her family, and we are in contact with the local authorities.”

Stirling said the case “raises serious concerns about violence against women, the right to self-defence, due process and the treatment of British nationals detained overseas.” The group is calling for George to be released on bail pending the investigation and for the case to be treated as one involving domestic violence. It also said she should receive protection, medical care, legal representation and immediate British consular assistance.