DJ held in Dubai jail pins hopes on pardon

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Grooverider, who co-presented a weekly show on Radio 1, was jailed during a trial in the Islamic emirate in February. Three months earlier, the Londoner had been arrested at Dubai International Airport after two grams of the drug and a pornographic DVD were found in his luggage.

His lawyers said he was unaware of the law and that he would not have been arrested for carrying the same amount in the UK. It was initially thought the DJ, whose real name is Raymond Bingham, could be freed as early as March.

Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, traditionally pardons foreigners caught with small amounts of narcotics during religious holidays. The pardon would have come during a period which coincided with the birthday of the prophet Mohammed. But it never arrived and the DJ has been in Dubai Central Jail since.

Those close to the DJ feared his case was being used to spread Dubai's strictly zero-tolerance attitude to drugs.

The 43-year-old is included on a list of possible pardons which will be dealt with during Ramadan, which falls in September.

A spokesman for the DJ's management said: "He's bearing up but desperate to get out." A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We provided consular assistance before the trial but have not had any direct input since."