A dad who spent two months locked up in horror conditions in an Iraq prison was given an emotional welcome back to Scotland yesterday.
Close to tears, Brian Glendinning, 43, hugged his family as he walked through the door of his home in Fife – finally free after being jailed over a bank debt.
On the doorstep with wife Kimberly and daughters Heidi and Lexi, he said: “I was in prison and I am thinking I shouldn’t be in here. I have been locked up that long, I just want to go in there and lock the door.”
His return to Kincardine, where welcome home banners had been put on windows, came an hour after he touched down in Edinburgh Airport after flying in from a connecting flight to Turkey.
Family members cried and cheered as Brian walked through the arrival gate.
The engineer, who had been working at an oil refinery in Iraq, was jailed in September after a Qatari bank issued an Interpol red notice over a £20,000 unpaid loan.
Campaigners and legal experts disputed the arrest warrant, claiming it didn’t apply to consumer debt.
He was released last Sunday after a mystery donor stepped in to settle the bill with the bank.
At the airport, a bearded and tired looking Brian said: “I didn’t think this day was coming any time soon.
“But I’m back where I belong with my family and friends. It’s just the emotions. I didn’t think I was going to be here anytime soon.”
“If it wasn’t for the support from everyone back home, my family and friends, I’d still be there. If it hadn’t been for them I’d be on my way to Qatar and it wouldn’t have been for the World Cup.
“Thanks to everyone from the village of Kincardine for their support. It’s just time to get home and get to the barbers.”
Brian’s mum Meta, 67, wept as she was finally able to hug her son.
She said: “Winning the lottery just couldn’t touch this.This has been horrendous and to any other family out there going through this, my heart and my best wishes go out to you.
“There is no way to describe the fear.
“I might be crying but I’m the happiest mum in the world today.”
Brian’s wife Kimberly said last month that had lost two stone in prison after only being able to eat bread. He was able to make phone calls to her to describe the conditions in his cell with 40 other men, some of whom were Taliban fighters who confessed to killing their own relatives.
Yesterday beautician Kimberly, 39, with whom Brian has children Heidi, 16, Lexi, 12 and Bailey, 20, said: “I’m very happy, so relieved and absolutely delighted to get my best pal back. I just want to thank everyone for their support.
“All the messages and everything we’ve been getting everyday has kept us going.”
Brian was due to come home on Friday after the bank dropped the arrest warrant but his flight was cancelled due to storms. He was then taken by the airport authorities and quizzed for over an hour.
Brian took out the £20,000 loan six years ago while in Qatar to fund a home extension. He’d made the payments before he suffered mental health issues and returned to Scotland.
He fell behind on repayments and Iraq got an arrest warrant from Interpol and he was arrested on his return to Iraq.
Brian had been due to start work as a construction engineer but when he tried to go through border control at Baghdad Airport on September 12 he was arrested.
While debt is a civil matter in the UK, in Qatar it is treated as a crime. Brian was held in a prison in Basra but was later moved to a jail at the Bab al-Sheikh police station in Baghdad.
His brother John, 39, also from Kincardine, who has campaigned tirelessly for Brian’s release said: “My wife has said I’ve been like a wee boy in a sweetie shop because my brother’s home.
“It’s been a 10 week fight and struggle. Today emotions are high because we didn’t think the day was going to come.
Older brother Lee, 48, added: “It’s been so hard but finally knowing he was on that flight has been indescribable.”
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