Laurence Dollimore
A BRITISH expat is still stuck in limbo after Spanish police took his passport off him following a ‘wrongful arrest’ almost one year ago.
The Olive Press first revealed how Robbie McMiller, 25, was arrested in October last year after six marijuana plants were found at the holiday rental property he was renting in La Linea.
The Glasgow lad was working out in the garage-cum-gym next to the apartment when police stormed in and questioned him about six plants they had found growing around the back.
He was arrested the same day – October 20 – and put in front of a judge the next day and has had to appear on the 1st and 15th of each month since.
The West of Scotland University graduate had only been in Spain for two weeks when the raid happened, but this still didn’t stop him being the prime suspect.
“It would have been impossible for those plants to have grown in just a fortnight,” he told the Olive Press this week. “Yet they have still not let me off the hook.”
The case has forced him to stay in Andalucia, as police have kept his passport and he has been somehow scraping a living doing some software development work.
“It’s been a really hard year,” he continued. “There have been no updates on the case at all and I have yet to have my day in court.
“I’m still waiting on a mañana that never seems to come.”
He added: “I’m lucky to have God and friends and family have been helping me out too.”
His lawyer Alvaro Gracia told the Olive Press: “We have asked the court of appeal in Cadiz if Robbie can have his passport back and a NIE so he can rent and work properly in Spain, but that was five months ago and I am still waiting for the judgement.”
It comes after another British man has been locked up since June in Algeciras’ notorious Botafuegos prison after 1.5 tonnes of hashish was found in the garage of the holiday villa he was renting in San Roque, also in Cadiz.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated Robbie McMiller found the rental apartment through Airbnb, it was via Facebook
