Family expresses relief after launching campaign to free Ray Cole, 69, who was arrested at bus stop with local man

A British tourist held in a Moroccan jail after being arrested for “homosexual acts” arrived back in Britain on Tuesday night following his release from prison.

Ray Cole’s son Adrian told the Guardian on Tuesday that his father had been freed from prison much quicker “than we could have ever hoped”.

He added: “I just received a call from the [British] consulate saying he is about to board a BA flight to London.

“We are incredibly relieved. It seems as though the authorities there responded to the fact that we had gone through all the proper channels, lodging an appeal and working with the ambassador.”

A statement released by the family said Cole, 69, had left for Gatwick from Marrakech. “We would like to thank everyone here and in Morocco who has helped our campaign to secure the release of our wonderful father. And we would like to thank the Moroccan authorities for showing clemency and compassion.”

Cole, who came out as gay a few years ago, was arrested on 18 September at a bus stop in Marrakech with Jamal Jam Wald Nass, a local man in his 20s with whom Cole had struck up a relationship online several months previously. It was Cole’s second visit to the north African country, after a two-week trip in the spring, and he had planned to stay for five weeks on another sightseeing trip with Nass.

But after posting daily updates on his Facebook page of their visits to souks and other tourist attractions, Cole’s messages both on social media and to his family in Kent and Berkshire stopped.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ray Cole: I was kept in ‘appalling conditions’ in Morocco

Approached by police who suspected him of homosexuality, Cole was arrested and detained along with Nass. It was not clear on Tuesday night if Nass had also been released.

In custody, the Moroccan authorities found a photo on Cole’s phone purportedly providing evidence of “homosexual acts”, which are illegal in the predominantly Muslim country. They then investigated his Facebook page and email account in search of corroborating evidence.

Concerned by the lack of contact, Cole’s family contacted the Foreign Office. Interpol and the consulate investigated Cole’s whereabouts for several days until the Moroccan authorities told them of his location in prison.

After an initial trial was adjourned because Cole had neither legal representation nor a translator, he was tried and found guilty of “homosexual acts” on 2 October, with his family in attendance in the public gallery at the court. He and Nass were each sentenced to four months in jail.

Adrian Cole said on Monday that he had launched a campaign for his retired father’s release amid concerns over his health – including a history of heart conditions and a stroke – and the “chaotic” trial and stark prison conditions. Cole, who volunteers as a driver taking elderly people to hospital in his home town of Deal, in Kent, was forced to sleep on a concrete floor throughout his time behind bars.

The family set up an online petition for his release and a crowdfunding page to help pay the legal and translator fees. An appeal was lodged last week, which the family had been expecting to take place in several weeks’ time.

The gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell described the arrest of a British tourist on such charges as “extremely unusual”.