Preston dad was thrown in a "hell hole" prison with two hundred dangerous inmates on paradise island

Hotelier Simon Wood could face up to twenty years in prison after being charged with money laundering.

The family say Simon and his wife have been in jail for two weeks.

A wealthy Preston hotelier has been thrown in a "hell hole" prison on the paradise island of Zanzibar after being charged with money laundering.

According to his terrified mum, Simon Wood shares a cell with two hundred dangerous inmates. The 51-year-old was arrested with Francesca Scalfari, 45, just over two weeks ago.

Police, his family say, shaved his head when he was taken into custody on the island, part of Tanzania on the east coast of Africa. They also said the pair had been denied basic needs - including access to water - and relatives had not been allowed into the jail to see them on several occasions.

Those close to the couple claim their arrest is linked to lawsuits brought against them by ex-investors in their hotel, The Shahrazad Boutique, dating back to 2017. But as these matters were later settled in favour of Simon and Francesca.

They say they are now "at a loss" to explain why new criminal charges arose earlier this month. Under local laws, prisoners can be kept in jail for eight months without trial, and Simon's mum, Christine Wood, from Preston, is 'concerned' for his welfare.

She said: "I am overly concerned for my son Simon and his Italian wife Francesca, who are starting their third week of imprisonment in Zanzibar. They have been accused of money laundering but are at a loss to know why. For them, paradise has quickly turned to hell, and until the court declares them "not guilty", they remain in jail."

Francesca's uncle Jim Betteridge, 62, a British ex-pat living in Tuscany, Italy, added Simon and Francesca are being kept in 'primitive' conditions. He said: "A hell hole would be the correct description. There is no food or water provided. They must buy their water - and any food that is brought in is poked around and probed by the guards.

"It is boiling in there, full of mosquitos, and it is not somewhere you would want to see your worst enemy, frankly. To call it primitive would be complimentary."

Jim explained Simon, originally from Preston, had arrived on the beautiful island twenty years ago, where he met his future wife, Francesca, and had their son, Luca, 11. The archipelago, which falls under the jurisdiction of Tanzania, is famed for its warm weather and soft sandy beaches - and attracts roughly 500,000 tourists a year.

The pair later decided to turn their beachside home into a thirty-room boutique hotel with £200-a-night ocean view villas, a restaurant, and a swimming pool. He said: "Another Italian couple involved in non-government organisations on the mainland invested money with them and became partners, and they created the hotel together."

Jim said the couple, who own multiple businesses on the island and employ sixty people, was arrested by police on June 7th and thrown in a local jail, where they have been kept ever since.

The couple made their first appearance in court on June 22nd and were charged with money laundering - believed to carry a maximum penalty of twenty years. And Jim says while officials from Italy and Britain are aiding their families, the couple suffer due to the awful conditions in their separate jails.

He said: "They've both lost weight and are uncomfortable and upset. The jail is ramshackle, to put it mildly. Simon is in a series of rooms with two hundred convicted prisoners and sleeping on a mattress floor.

"Francesca is in a room with about twenty people. They had no water for two days and two nights - and you can only imagine what that would do for one person, let alone twenty."

Jim insists the pair could prove their innocence but says this is hard to achieve as they are currently unable to get bail. It is understood the president of Zanzibar, Hussein Mwinyi, will attend a local investment forum on June 23rd, where he could receive criticism for the couple's detainment.

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson confirmed they were aiding a British national currently jailed in Tanzania but declined to give further details.

They said: "We are supporting a British National detained in Tanzania and are in contact with the local authorities."