New CCTV footage has surfaced from the night a British influencer fatally stabbed her boyfriend in Dubai, as she fights a murder charge that could leave her facing the death penalty.
Brooke George, 23, claims she became trapped in the United Arab Emirates after William Treeby allegedly enticed her to Dubai with promises of luxury and a modelling career, then took away her passport.
Ms George, from Gravesend in Kent, alleges that Mr Treeby, 26, turned violent after she booked a flight home to Britain. She says she stabbed him with a kitchen knife in self-defence on June 21.
The former John Lewis employee, who later built a profile as an influencer, was arrested in June while attempting to board a flight to London. She has since been charged with murder in Dubai, where she could face execution by firing squad if convicted.
Months after her arrest, surveillance footage from the hours before the fatal stabbing has now come to light.
The Sun reported that CCTV referenced in the Dubai Public Prosecution investigation showed Brooke, Treeby and a friend arriving at McCafferty’s Irish Pub in Jumeirah Village Circle, a planned Dubai community, at around 3.23pm on June 21 — several hours before Treeby died.
The group remained at the venue drinking for several hours before leaving at about 8pm.
According to the prosecution investigation, Treeby — who was allegedly using the name “Kaspar Aglitis” because he was wanted in the UK over a cocaine conspiracy in Kent — appeared “agitated” and “angry” while inside the pub.
At one point, he was so unsettled he needed to be calmed down by his friend.
Brooke George, 23, a former John Lewis shop assistant from Gravesend, is facing a firing squad after stabbing a 26-year-old British man with a kitchen knife at his luxury apartment
William Treeby (pictured) died after being stabbed in the chest in June
Detained In Dubai, a group that is supporting Ms George, said that investigators had evidence that following the trip to the pub, Treeby was heavily intoxicated. A toxicology report showed he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, the group claimed.
A UAE forensic expert reportedly concluded his level of intoxication was sufficient to affect his ‘awareness, perception and reactions’, according to the file.
The group also said the prosecution has evidence that on the way back to their villa after they spent hours at the pub, Treeby punched her in the face during an argument in the car, leaving her with a bruise on her face.
When they got back to the villa, Treeby angrily threw her belongings across the floor downstairs.
Ms George told investigators she went back to the villa to pick up her belongings before leaving the UAE that night. But when she opened the door to an upstairs bedroom, Treeby was holding a knife.
After she told him she was leaving the country, he refused to let her go and tried to push her, she claimed, adding that the knife he was carrying fell to the floor in a scuffle in which their friend intervened.
She then picked up the knife and stabbed Treeby once. A witness later said she was ‘crying hysterically’, according to Detained in Dubai.
After the attack, she fled to Dubai Airport with her bag, where staff saw she was visibly injured and in a state of distress.
Brooke said William Treeby hit her in the face as they made their way back to their villa on the night of his death
Mr Treeby, 26, from Kent, was found dead having been stabbed in his apartment in the UAE
After she was pulled aside, she was initially silent before she began cooperating with investigators.
They documented fresh bruising around her left eye, as well as other injuries she sustained in the previous days.
She also told police that he would abuse her, telling investigators: ‘He sometimes assaults me when I refuse to have sex with him.’
Radha Stirling, chief executive of Detained in Dubai, said: ‘This is not a case where Brooke denies causing the fatal injury.
‘The question is why it happened and whether she was defending herself.
‘The prosecution’s own evidence confirms that Treeby was heavily intoxicated, had punched Brooke shortly beforehand, was angry and agitated, and had thrown her belongings throughout the villa.
‘Brooke was subsequently described as hysterical and in shock.
‘She is now facing a potential death sentence and it is imperative that her allegations of violence and her account of self defence receive the most rigorous examination before any irreversible judgment is made.’
She also said that witnesses leaving the UAE made Ms George’s defence more difficult: ‘It is extremely difficult to secure a fair hearing in the UAE, particularly when key witnesses have left the country and are no longer available to be cross examined.
‘Where a young woman is facing the possibility of capital punishment, every witness and every piece of evidence must be subjected to the highest level of scrutiny.’
Her mother, 55-year-old Tess George, previously said that her daughter was ‘terrified’ when she called home from the UAE in the hours preceding Treeby’s death.
Tess George recalled her daughter (pictured) believing Mr Treeby to be the man of her ‘dreams’
Mr Treeby is said to have taken Ms George’s passport from her
Mrs George recalls her daughter believing Mr Treeby to be the man of her ‘dreams,’ and planned to visit him in Dubai again only one week later.
It was then, when Ms George returned to Dubai, that her mother said things between her and Mr Treeby went wrong – and she received a worrying phone call.
Ms George had called her mother from a bar in the city, where Mrs George described her as ‘petrified’ and ‘absolutely terrified’.
She said her daughter was uncontrollably sobbing and expressed a desire to return to Britain because she was ‘scared’.
Mrs George told The Sun: ‘The day before the incident, she wasn’t herself. She was quieter than usual but wouldn’t tell me why. That evening they went to a bar in Dubai. When I spoke to Brooke right after the incident, she was absolutely terrified.
‘I have never seen my daughter so frightened. She was crying uncontrollably. I could see one of her eyes was badly swollen and beginning to close.
‘As Brooke’s mother, I am deeply concerned for her welfare. The daughter I spoke to that night was utterly terrified. I firmly believe she was trying desperately to get home and away from whatever had happened to her.’
