Shane Denney has barely any food to eat and is sleeping on the floor of his cell which he shares with dozens of others
A man rotting in a Cambodian prison told his mum “I’m going to die if you don’t get me out of here”. Shane Denney, 23, has been held in correction centre 1 in the Prey Sar prison complex in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh since his arrest for drug smuggling.
Denney, who lives in Kirkby, was allegedly sent to Cambodia to bring back suitcases of cannabis. His mum, Carole, claimed her son had been sent to Asia by a “Liverpool gangster” suspected of being involved in county lines who had threatened their family.
Ms Denney told the ECHO that her son is serving a prison sentence because he has been unable to prove the drugs – 40kg of cannabis – did not belong to him. And the heartbroken mum said her son is in dire need of urgent medical attention after his foot swelled to three times its normal size.
Ms Denney claimed her son had been abused, “tortured with cigarettes” and was struggling to pay for food. During the last phone call she had with her son he told her: “I’m going to die if you don’t get me out of here.”
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told the ECHO: “We are providing support to the family of a British national detained in Cambodia.”
Denney, who has a young daughter, is serving 17 years in prison following his conviction, according to local news reports seen by the ECHO. He was also ordered to pay the equivalent of a £5,500 fine and will be deported from the country upon the completion of his sentence.
The report said Denney appealed his sentence but the prosecution maintained he had no evidence to prove the drugs did not belong to him. The banged-up Brit maintained the drugs belonged to another man who remained at large.
Ms Denney claimed her son had never been abroad before and only recently got a passport when he was told to go to Cambodia. She said he had recently broken up with his partner and was encouraged to go by a man, who the ECHO has been told is linked to organised crime.
Ms Denney said her son had been promised that his flights and accommodation had been paid for him. But when he got to Asia that proved to be a lie and he burned through the £400 he had taken as spending money paying for accommodation.
The ECHO understands Denney planned to leave Asia and return to the UK. But his mum claimed: “He was threatened that if he did not bring the cases back then they would come for his family.” She later found out he had been arrested at the airport.
Denney, who is originally from Cumbria but has lived in Kirkby for five years, has been serving his sentence in the Cambodian super-prison complex. Prisoners Abroad, a charity which supports the families of British people who find themselves incarcerated overseas, previously said over 25,000 inmates were crammed into the facility designed for 18,000. Cells typically hold dozens of prisoners at any one time, while conditions have been called “dire” due to a “lack of space [and] clean water”.
Ms Denney has told the ECHO that the prison charges inmates to access basic commodities. She said: “He is struggling to pay for food and water. He is being given contaminated water from the local river.
“All he is eating are bits of mouldy rice off the ground. He is not eating proper food.” The mum added: “The prison is barbaric. He is sleeping on the floor. He is sharing a room with loads of other people. They all sleep on top of each other.”
Most alarmingly Ms Denney’s son has been experiencing issues with his foot. She claimed prison officers had used unsterilised equipment to “rip it open” in a crude attempt to fix the issue. Ms Denney urged the British embassy to take action to ensure her son had proper medical attention.
Prisoners Abroad said it did not comment on individual cases. But a spokesperson told the ECHO: “Prisoners Abroad is currently supporting 24 people in prison in Cambodia, as well as their families. We encourage families to raise their concerns directly with the FCDO, who are in the best position to seek information or advice about the medical treatment available.
“The FCDO prisoner pack states: ‘Standards of healthcare in Cambodian prisons are poor in comparison to the United Kingdom. Poor sanitation, inadequate ventilation, extremes of temperature, lower grade food and people sleeping in close proximity to each other – often shoulder to shoulder – can cause the spread of infections’.”
Ms Denney is trying to get money together to ensure her son has the most basic commodities. She has also claimed her attempts to ensure her son has legal representation during the appeal process has seen lawyers take payments before cutting contact.
She said: “I’m now up to my neck in debt. Half of my money is going into paying off debts as I help my son. I’m surviving on sandwiches while this goes on.”
The mum told the ECHO her son was “a good boy” who passed his school qualifications and was previously on a football scholarship in the hope of turning pro. “I’m heartbroken,” she said. “He is all I’ve got.”
