“I was just trying to protect my wife”: How a British man’s complaint about wife’s harassment at a luxury Doha hotel led to 5‑year Qatar ban

What should have been a dream honeymoon in Doha turned into a years‑long legal battle for a British couple, after the husband’s public complaint about his wife’s alleged harassment at a luxury hotel led to his arrest, conviction, and eventual deportation from Qatar.


The case of Craig and Sarah Barratt, a 49‑year‑old healthcare consultant and his 34‑year‑old wife, has drawn international attention not only for the alleged harassment they say took place at a popular hotel in Doha but also for the harsh response meted out under Qatar’s cybercrime laws, raising questions about how foreign guests are treated when they criticise hotels and security.

Newly wed woman sexually harrassed, threatened by tourists while on honeymoon!

Sarah told The Telegraph that she was approached by two men who initially asked her to take their photograph. The exchange soon turned disturbing, with one of the men allegedly asking for her room number and making sexually threatening remarks, including the line “I will sleep with you, you will enjoy it, and you will fall in love with me,” which she quoted in her account of the incident.



Feeling frightened and vulnerable, Sarah said she stayed by the pool until the men left, fearing they might follow her if she went back to her room. When Craig returned, she told him what had happened, and he immediately contacted the hotel’s general manager, who initially apologised and told the couple, via a WhatsApp message cited by The Telegraph, that “I found the CCTV recording thanks to your detailed feedback. The guests left the premises”.

The couple decided to stay on, accepting an upgrade to a suite and additional security, but relations with the hotel soured days later when Sarah claimed she saw the same men again in the lobby and security staff did not help, with one guard allegedly laughing at her concerns and triggering a panic attack.

From TripAdvisor review to cybercrime case

Frustrated and alarmed for his wife’s safety, Craig later posted a TripAdvisor review warning other travellers that the hotel in Doha was “unsafe for Western women”.


The review was subsequently removed after the hotel challenged it, and the situation escalated when the hotel filed a criminal defamation complaint against Craig under Qatar’s cybercrime laws, citing both the review and his private messages to Marriott leadership.

In February 2025, Craig was convicted in absentia, fined 20,000 Qatari riyals, sentenced to one week in prison, and ordered to be deported. Though the jail term was later annulled on appeal, the deportation order and fine remained.


Craig said he learned about the conviction only after returning to Qatar for work, when he was detained at Hamad International Airport, fined, and effectively barred from staying in the country. Later, in October 2025, he was detained again, held in a small, dirty, freezing enclosure with about 15 others for one night before being moved to a detention centre for three more nights, during which his wife, his Qatari lawyer, and British consular staff could not locate him until the fourth day. He was then deported and given a five‑year ban from re‑entering Qatar.

Man was just protecting his wife!

Craig has insisted that the case is not about a negative review but about protecting his wife. As he told The Telegraph, “This is not about a Tripadvisor review. I was trying to protect my wife who thought she was going to be raped”.