Published 6am, Monday 20 April 2026, to coincide with The Telegraph's investigation into our case.Public statement from Sarah and CraigWe are Sarah and Craig, a married British couple. In the summer of 2024, we were staying at The Ritz-Carlton Doha, a Marriott hotel, on a work trip for Craig. What happened during that stay, and what has followed, has changed both of our lives. We are speaking publicly now because we believe others need to know.The Telegraph's investigation, published today, sets out the detail in full. It sits behind a paywall. This statement summarises what happened for readers who are unable to access it.What happened at the hotel:While Craig was out working, Sarah was sexually harassed at the hotel pool by two male guests. One of them asked for her room number, made clear he intended to come to her room and said he 'would sleep with her'. Sarah understood this as a threat of sexual violence.Sarah returned to the room and messaged Craig to tell him what had happened. Craig then reported the incident to hotel management and specifically asked that Sarah not be contacted directly, given how shaken she was. The hotel ignored that request and approached Sarah directly.Senior hotel staff told us they were taking the matter seriously, assured us that the men had been removed from the hotel, and urged us to stay. We relied on those assurances.Two days later, the same men reappeared inside the hotel. The assurance we had been given was untrue. Sarah suffered a severe trauma response. We left the hotel the same day.What happened after we complained:Craig raised a formal complaint with Marriott, including a formal escalation to Marriott's senior leadership. He also posted a short Tripadvisor review warning other women about what had happened. The review was online for three days before Tripadvisor removed it at Marriott's request. Marriott declined to engage meaningfully with the complaint.We subsequently discovered that a criminal case had been filed against Craig in Qatar, brought by The Ritz-Carlton Doha through its authorised representative, arising out of the complaint correspondence and the Tripadvisor review.We discovered when returning to Qatar in June 2025 that Craig had been convicted in February 2025, without any notice that proceedings were underway and without any opportunity to defend himself - despite Marriott having his email, phone number and home address.He was shocked to learn that he had been sentenced to one week's imprisonment, a QAR 20,000 (£4,000) fine, and deportation.Sarah and Craig took the case to the Court of Appeal and then, when that failed, to Qatar's supreme court, the Court of Cassation.Throughout this process Craig continued to travel to Qatar for work with the government's permission.Detention and deportation:In October 2025, Craig checked-in at Doha airport for his planned return home from work. Before he could board the plane, he was detained by officers. They informed him that the Court of Cessation had heard his appeal a week earlier than planned.The custodial sentence was ultimately suspended. The conviction, the fine and the deportation order stood.Craig was placed in the back of an SUV and driven across Doha at speed to an unknown location.He was held for four nights. The first in a small, dirty and freezing cold cage with fifteen other men.The following morning he was handcuffed and moved to a detention centre, where he was held for three further nights.Sarah, his Qatari lawyer and the British Embassy were unable to locate him until the fourth day. When eventually found, he was visited by British consular staff and later that day deported by the authorities. He remains banned from Qatar.The wider responsibility as we see it:The Ritz-Carlton Doha is operated under the Marriott International group. Marriott held our contact details throughout — Craig was a Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite member at the time, with direct concierge lines of contact — and could have alerted him to the criminal proceedings at any point. It did not.Our view is that Marriott International bears responsibility for how the hotel handled Sarah's complaint, for the subsequent conduct of hotel representatives, and for the ordeal that followed.We've spent almost two years asking Marriott International for their help and despite being loyal customers we feel we've been insulted, undermined, ignored and victimised.Tripadvisor's role:The Tripadvisor review at the centre of the criminal case against Craig was a short, factual review warning other women of what had happened to Sarah at the hotel. Tripadvisor removed it three days after it was posted, on the hotel's request.We do not understand why a platform that invites users to share warnings about hotel safety would not protect those users from criminal prosecution arising directly from their use of the platform. Nor do we understand why users in countries such as Qatar are not warned that they could end-up in prison if they post negative reviews. Tripadvisor has been aware of Craig's case for some time. To date it has not provided any meaningful support or response.Our current position:We are presently acting for ourselves. The scale of professional and financial harm Craig has suffered — including the non-renewal of his senior consulting contract following the ban on returning to Qatar — has meant that we cannot currently afford the legal representation in the UK, US and Qatar that this case would ordinarily require. We are exploring options for representation in each of these jurisdictions and welcome approaches from legal representatives able to assist.A note on Qatar:Craig has worked in the Middle East for nearly ten years and has many close colleagues and friends across the region, including in Qatar. Sarah and Craig want to be clear: we take no issue with the country of Qatar or with the Qatari people. What happened to Sarah began with the conduct of two individuals at the hotel pool. What turned it into the wider ordeal we have described above was the response of The Ritz-Carlton Doha, and of Marriott more widely at local, regional and international levels.The criminal complaint against Craig was brought by The Ritz-Carlton Doha — the hotel where Sarah was harassed — through its authorised representatives. The Ritz-Carlton Doha is a Marriott-operated property. The court papers record that Marriott International's head office was aware of the matter and had urged its Qatar branch to resolve it. A criminal complaint was filed against Craig nonetheless. It is the Marriott group, in our view, that bears the most lasting responsibility for what has followed.We are speaking publicly now because we believe:Women should be able to travel safely, and complain safely, when something goes wrong.Marriott should handle serious guest safety allegations with care, not in a way that exposes the guest to criminal proceedings in the country of the incident.Nobody should be detained and deported, with their careers damaged, for raising a good-faith complaint about their partner's safety.Online platforms that invite users to share their experiences of hotels should protect and support those users when their reviews are used against them.What we want:We want accountability, proper recognition of what has happened, and meaningful change in how Marriott handles serious guest safety complaints in places where guests have no effective recourse.From Tripadvisor we want clear warnings to users about the risks of posting critical reviews in countries where this can be considered a crime, and support for users prosecuted for legitimate use of the platform.Contact:Journalists, media organisations and legal firms wishing to discuss this story are welcome to contact us at [email protected]. We will respond as quickly as we are able.Anyone wishing to share this statement to help raise awareness is welcome to do so and we thank you for your help.Sarah and Craig
20 April 2026