23-05-2025
Scot thrown in hell hole Caribbean jail 'for forcing ill wife to go to work'
Michael Breslin is being held on remand in Puerto Rico's notorious Bayamón Correctional Complex, which is plagued by gangs and drugs and has seen crooked prison guards and escapees.
A Scottish businessman is being held in a hellhole foreign prison - after he arrested over claims he tried to force his wife to go to work when she said she wasn't well.
Michael Breslin and his wife live in San Juan, the capital of US territory Puerto Rico, and he was remanded in custody over domestic abuse claims on the island.
The 32-year-old is being held in the Caribbean island's Bayamón Correctional Complex, which sees inmates housed based on gang affiliations and has hit the headlines over a number of incidents.
As well as drug deaths and squalid conditions, the complex has also been staffed by crooked prison guards helping criminals smuggle in drugs and other contraband, and has seen a number of prisoners break free.
Breslin, of Ardrossan, Ayrshire, was charged with one count of battery under the predominantly Spanish speaking island's Domestic Violence Prevention and Intervention Act.
A Policía de Puerto Rico mugshot of Breslin released after his arrest describes him as having red hair, white skin and blue eyes, and being 5ft 10ins tall.
Puerto Rican daily newspaper Primera Hora reported that Breslin's partner claims he began yelling and insulting her because she didn't feel well enough to go to work, and he insisted that she leave the house.
The woman decided to get into his vehicle to go to her parents' house, and when he got in too. On the way, he continued yelling at her in front of her four-year-old son, causing her to feel intimidated.
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Furthermore, the incident report indicated that while he was driving along Jesús T. Piñero Avenue, his steering wheel moved and he was nearly involved in a traffic accident, so he decided to file a complaint.
The evidence was presented to Judge Arelys Ortiz at a court in San Juan, who determined cause for arrest and set bail at $80,000, which he did not post.
After a court hearing in connection with the case in March, Breslin was sent to Institution 705 of the Bayamón Correctional Complex, until a preliminary hearing takes place.
It's understood Breslin and his wife, who is believed to be from Puerto Rico, got married over there in March 2023. His construction company, MBRESLIN LTD, was dissolved in March 2021.
Government documents list his occupation as a steel erector and state the company was involved in "manufacture of metal structures and parts of structures" and "construction of bridges and tunnels".
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: "We are supporting a British man detained in Puerto Rico and are in contact with the local authorities."
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is the ministry of foreign affairs and a ministerial department of the United Kingdom government.
Between 2020 and 2022, prison deaths nearly doubled in Puerto Rico, going from 59 from 2020 to 2021, and 94 deaths between 2021 and 2022, with independent senator and physician José Vargas Vidot saying: "The increase in deaths is due to opioid overdoses".
In 2021, three prison officers were charged with smuggling contraband to the jail Breslin is being held in. The contraband included mobile phones, chargers and cigarettes.
Payments were made for supplying the smuggled items, which also included drugs, such as synthetic cannabis and suboxone, a medication used to treat heroin and morphine addicts.
In 2017, thirteen prisoners went on the run from Bayamón after a power cut caused when Hurricane Maria hit the island allowed them to make their escape.
The hurricane left the prisoners in the overcrowded jail without running water and electricity for weeks and led to a civil rights storm, bringing protests and unrest.
