Radio 1 DJ and drum & bass head Grooverider has been jailed for four years in Dubai after being caught taking cannabis into the country when heading there for a DJ set last November. The DJ, real name Raymond Bingham, had 2.16g of the drug on his person when he was searched by customs entering the UAE city on 23 Nov last year.
Bingham says he had forgotten the drug was in his pocket when flying into Dubai, and that he hadn't intended to take it with him into the city. Prior to his sentencing the DJ called the charges against him "ridiculous", adding: "It was a small amount. Back home I would not even get prosecuted".
Bingham has not been presenting his drum & bass show on Radio 1 since the charges were filed against him last November, and the show is currently being solely credited to his former co-presenter Fabio. A spokesman for the station said yesterday: "Grooverider has paid a very high price for a serious mistake".
Many in the West will be surprised by the severity of the sentence for a small time possession charge, but four years jail time is common for people caught taking drugs into the United Arab Emirates, and the promoter of the gig where Bingham was due to play in November told reporters last year he had made the DJ aware of this fact.
Grooverider now has two weeks to appeal the sentence. And there may be other routes for the DJ's people to try and get their man out of jail sooner. As previously reported, in 2006 Grammy award winning music producer Dallas Austin was prosecuted for taking cocaine into Dubai, and also faced four years inside, but he was pardoned by the emirate's Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.