Nevertheless, Brake's letter adds to further pressure on Johnson to raise the case after 18 MPs called for a debate in parliament to be held condemning the sentence against Alwadaei’s family.



Amnesty International said the sentencing was a "clear attempt to muzzle Sayed Alwadaei from afar".



In a statement, the charity added: "It sends a chilling signal that no one is out of the Bahraini authorities’ reach and demonstrates that they are prepared to use whatever means necessary to crush dissent."

Campaigners said the embassy claimed the relatives of Alwadaei had the opportunity to complain to UK-trained watchdog bodies in Bahrain, set up as part of a £2 million Foreign Office programme.



The campaigners wrote: "In fact, the bodies – including a prison Ombudsman – have refused to investigate allegations that the family were tortured into ‘confessions’."

Activists have repeatedly urged Britain to discuss human rights issues with its Gulf ally. They raised concerns that the UK has spent millions of pounds since 2012 to train Bahrain in human rights mechanisms, which they claim "whitewashed" Bahraini abuses.

It's not the first time the Foreign Office has been warned of torture in Bahrain – BuzzFeed News discovered last year the Foreign Office had been repeatedly provided evidence by human rights groups of mistreatment in prisons.



It comes at a time when there have been efforts from London to "turbo-charge" trade deals between the UK and the Gulf in advance of a departure from Europe, with ministers' enthusiasm raising concerns from campaigners about how far the government is prepared to turn a blind eye to human rights abuses in the region.

In September last year Liam Fox, the trade secretary, pressed ahead with informal discussions on future deals outside the EU, visiting Bahrain, the UAE, and Qatar in a week and identified “big-ticket exporting opportunities” across industries.



In October Alistair Burt, the minister for the Middle East and North Africa, visited Bahrain for the ninth meeting of the UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group, a forum for the bilateral relationship, to underline "the strength and depth of the UK-Bahraini relationship".



And last winter, the UK prime minister met Gulf leaders to explore the possibility of new free trade agreements between the UK and Gulf once the UK has left the European Union.

Such deals are expected to be lucrative, with the government saying it has identified £30 billion of opportunities for businesses across 15 different sectors over the next five years in the Gulf.

Theresa May's visit closely followed an official visit by Prince Charles last November to mark the 200th anniversary of bilateral relationships between the UK and Bahrain that saw the prince visit mosques and temples and attend a Remembrance Day service.

