New Track

Fabio, Roni Size, Shy FX and Mickey Finn are amongst an all star cast of drum & bass DJs who will be performing at London’s Koko next month for a special party celebrating the early release of Grooverider from prison in Dubai. His recent release was greeted with joy from peers such as Calibre (“finally the injustice has been reversed”) and 4 Hero’s Marc Mac, who speaking about the case this week declared; “the drum and bass scene was on hold while Groove was held captive.”

The event’s promoters address his imprisonment directly in the event’s marketing material, with a detailed description of his case. “Grooverider is back in the UK after serving seven months of a four year sentence in a Dubai prison,” the press release begins. “The �Rider, real name Raymond Bingham, was arrested in November 2007 at Dubai airport on charges of possession of 2.16 grams of cannabis. In February, he was sentenced to four years in prison. After his lawyer, Mohammad Al-Reda, was unable to get the charges dropped during an appeal, Grooverider’s only hope of returning to England was during the religious festival of Ramadan, when 700 Emirati and ex-pat prisoners are traditionally pardoned.”

“In August, Grooverider heard his name was on a list of potentials, but it wasn’t until Monday 1st September that he heard he was being released. Grooverider finally returned home on September 4 and we can now all breathe a collective sigh of relief.”

• RSS
• del.ici.ous
• Digg
• Facebook