Holiday snap lands grandparents in filthy jail cell

A British couple’s dream holiday has ended in a cockroach infested jail cell after soldiers took issue with some of their photographs.

Pamela and Michael Cleary had travelled to the Greek island of Kos where the 55-year-old grandfather whipped out his mobile phone to take some snapshots of two army dinghies right before they were due to head to the airport to catch a flight.

Mr Cleary, who has a keen interest in the military, said he was quickly approached by a soldier who demanded he delete the images before requesting to see both their passports.

The couple did as instructed, thinking that would bring an end to the exchange, however authorities had other ideas, allegedly accusing them of spying on the military.

“We were handcuffed together like two criminals and driven off in a police car. They took us to a police station. It was a really dingy, scruffy place,” Mrs Cleary told the Daily Mail.

“There was only one cell and we could see mosquitos everywhere. There was a tiny window and it was boiling hot. All I can remember is Mike shaking cockroaches off me.”

Having already missed their flight home to England, the devastated couple said they spent that night in the cell before being transported to the local magistrates court the next morning, where the language barrier again hampered their efforts to comprehend their mistake.

The mother-of-four said her husband tried to explain that he didn’t know taking the pictures was a crime.

She said the magistrate eventually allowed them to return to England but said they would have to return to Greece for a hearing at a later date.

While they’re now back home, the stress of the ordeal is far from behind them.

“We’re both went to the doctor for post-traumatic stress. I’m taking sleeping tablets,” she added.

Mrs Cleary also took aim at the British Consulate saying they didn’t provide adequate assistance.