DJ Grooverider has been jailed for four years in Dubai

DJ Grooverider has been jailed for four years in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for cannabis possession.A small amount of cannabis was reported to have been found in his record collection. The BBC Radio 1 DJ - real name Raymond Bingham - was arrested in November 2007 for flying in for a nightclub gig with 2.16g of cannabis in his luggage. Bingham denied smuggling drugs, claiming he had left the cannabis in a trouser pocket and forgotten about it. "Grooverider has paid a very high price for a serious mistake," a spokesman for Radio 1 said. The 40-year-old has been with the station since 1998 and hosted the weekend drum 'n' bass show with fellow DJ Fabio.
The programme, which has broadcast without him since his arrest, will continue under the title Radio 1's Drum 'n' Bass Show With Fabio.The 40-year-old DJ, who co-hosts the weekly BBC drum-and-bass programme Fabio and Grooverider, His case is causing huge controversy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where strict laws rooted in conservative Islam sometimes clash with the liberal values of its expatriate citizens and the millions of tourists who visit every year.
Grooverider had been employed on a freelance basis and has not been paid by the station since November. Four years is the minimum sentence for drug trafficking in the UAE. In the last 12 months, 64 British nationals have been arrested in the UAE for drugs offences The DJ, who called his arrest "ridiculous" in an interview last month, has two weeks to appeal. "I must have forgotten the spliff," he said in the interview. "It was a small amount. Back home I would not even get prosecuted." Grooverider – whose real name is Raymond Bingham – was arrested at Dubai airport on November 23, hours before he was due to play a sold-out show at The Lodge, one of the Gulf state’s hottest clubs.Grooverider, who made his name DJing at illegal warehouse parties, is recognised as a pioneer of the abrasive style of dance music known as “drum and bass”. He is a recording artist and record label owner in his own right and an in-demand DJ on the international club circuit. His colleague Fabio will continue to present the Radio 1 show in his absence.