Gallantry Award Winner Ex-British Marine Arrested in Dubai on Spying Charges

Matt Croucher, a former British Royal Marine has been held in Dubai for seven months on spying charges, reported The Times newspaper. The 40-year-old Matt has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and had received George Cross — Britain’s highest award for gallantry — for his service in Afghanistan in 2008.

He was arrested in Dubai in November 2023.

He was charged with “intentionally and illegally accessing a telecommunications network”, according to the Times.

Croucher threw himself on a Taliban tripwire grenade in Afghanistan to save others around him, for which he was awarded the George Cross, the highest British gallantry award alongside the Victoria Cross.

He lived in Dubai from 2014 to 2021 working with authorities on “security-related matters”, the Times reported.