More than 1,000 Britons held abroad last November without being sentenced

Last November, despite not having a prison sentence, Sky News learned that more than 1,000 British nationals were detained in over 100 different countries.

While the number includes people who were then released on bail or without charge, it also includes detainees such as Andrew Neal, a former soldier who spent months and sometimes years in foreign jail without being found guilty of an offence.

Mr Neal, a father of two, has been in jail since last October in the United Arab Emirates on charges of selling drugs-an allegation he denies.

He appeared in court in Abu Dhabi this morning but his family said a police officer who was supposed to be giving evidence for the prosecution never appeared so the veteran of the decorated army was given a new date in July and sent back to his cell.

"We feel awful," said his mother, Sue Neal, who tracked the plight of her son from the family home just outside Nottingham.

"It's getting harder and harder to stay positive. We've got to stay for Andrew's sake, but we can't believe it." Countries with at least one British without being sentenced include those run by authoritarian regimes with poor human rights records and arbitrary justice systems like Egypt, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China and Myanmar (formerly Burma).

Figures released under a Freedom of Information Act request by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office show that as of last November 2,335 British nationals were known to be in detention overseas.

"In addition to sentenced prisoners, this includes British nationals in immigration detention, police detention, and those on remand awaiting trial," the Foreign Office said.

Asked how many British nationals were charged with a crime overseas but have yet to be found guilty or cleared, the department said it knew 1,012 people "who have yet to be sentenced."

The figure was later described as a snapshot of the detention situation recorded in November 2018 for British nationals on a single day.

It includes a range of scenarios from individuals convicted of crimes and awaiting sentencing to those picked up but later dropped charges against them as well as those languishing in prison without formal prosecution.

During this snapshot, the department listed 108 countries it said held Britons.

Jagtar Singh Johal, 32, a Scottish Sikh living in Dumbarton, is among those in prison, pleading for their innocence and not yet convicted of any crime.

He has been in an Indian prison for nearly 19 months accused of being connected to the murders of a number of Hindu nationalists. His brother says he's innocent, claiming he's been tortured while in detention.

Of the total number of British prisoners, 89% were men and 11% were women.

Crimes that ranged from assault and pedophilia to drugs and fraud that they were accused of or found guilty of.

Data from the Foreign Office reveals that since the beginning of this year a total of 1,245 British nationals have been arrested in a foreign country.

The number of British citizens arrested overseas for the entire last year was 5,359. Compared to 5,301 Britons arrested in 2017 and 5,568 arrested the year before.

In 2015, the number of arrests fell to 4,890 British nationals.

It could be much higher the true figure of British nationals who fall foul of overseas law.

"It should also be noted that reporting incidents to the FCO (or one of its diplomatic missions) is not mandatory for British nationals, so the figures provided cover only incidents where cases have been reported to us," the Foreign Office said.

It added that some EU nationals as well as Commonwealth nationals in non-Commonwealth countries are also using their consular services.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We are doing our utmost to help Brits detained overseas, whatever stage of the legal process they are in. We are helping about 5,500 people who are arrested or detained each year. Last year, 82% of those to whom we provided consular services gave us a satisfaction rating of 8 out of 10 or more.