Matthew Hedges heard inmates being tortured in UAE jail

The British academic Matthew Heges, who was jailed in Abu Dhabi for allegedly spying for the UK government, has revealed how he heard other prisoners being tortured during his detention in a UAE jail.

Matthew Hedges said he had suicidal thoughts after he was accused of working for MI6 and sentenced to life behind bars.

Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britiain, Matthew said the only "glimmer" of hope he had throughout the months in jail was the weekly phone called with his wife Daniela Tejada.

"I actually heard people being tortured in the premises I was in,” he said.

"One time I went into another room and I saw someone'e else's footprints on the wall, upside down at about head level.

"You don't understand how that can happen for any other reason apart from torture."

He said that although he himself had not been physically tortured, the isolation and threats felt like a form of torture.

Hedges, 31, arrived in the UK a day after he was pardoned and released from his life sentence for spying. The UAE released him after showing a video of him apparently confessing to being a member of Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency. Britain denied he was a spy and welcomed his release.