Retired Coldstream Guards major found hanged after being stuck in Dubai for five years

Retired Coldstream Guards major, 40, who was stuck in Dubai for five years when authorities confiscated his passport is found hanged

  • Coldstream Guard got into financial problems and had passport seized in 2010
  • The Dubai authorities banned Hugo Rosen from leaving the country for five years
  • He reached a settlement and returned to the UK but was unable to find work
  • Retired army major was found hanged after returning to Dubai to set up business

A retired Coldstream Guards major who was stuck in Dubai for five years after his passport was confiscated was later found hanged, a court heard today.

Military veteran Hugo Rosen was working in security while living in the city in the United Arab Emirates when authorities stopped him from leaving the country for five years after he got into financial difficulties. 

The 40-year-old retired from the army, then moved to Dubai in 2010 and set up various business interests.

After reaching a settlement with Dubai authorities he was allowed to leave and returned to the UK.

But after being unable to find work in Britain, Mr Rosen went back to Dubai to set up a fencing company.

A coroner is still investigating the circumstances around his death and said during an opening of an inquest that the former army major was found hanged in Dubai in October last year. 

Having trained at the prestigious Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, Mr Rosen had been a Major in the 1st battalion Coldstream Guards.

Retired Coldstream Guards major Hugo Rosen (pictured above) was found hanged in Dubai last October 

He had been in command when the battalion was mounted at Buckingham Palace in November 2006 when the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, had travelled in State to the Palace of Westminster to open the session of Parliament.

Major Rosen also appeared in a video showing Buckingham Palace guards playing a medley of classic James Bond theme songs to coincide with the release of Casino Royale in 2006.

As well as being a director of security firms set up in Dubai and operating across Asia, Major Rosen was also a director at Miro Commodities DMCC, which specialised in the global trade of commodities.

In 2006 while with the Infantry Rifle Company, Major Rosen helped train the Afghan National Police in Helmand Province in counter narcotics operations.

After leaving Mr Rosen worked as a private defence contractor alongside the US military in Iraq.

It was not yet known what had happened in the days leading up to his death, as the Berkshire coroner’s office continued to work to get more information from the Dubai authorities.

However, the assistant coroner for Berkshire, Alison McCormick, told how Major Rosen, formerly from Windsor, Berkshire, had struggled financially in the years before he died on October 4 last year.

She told the opening of an inquest into his death: ‘Mr Rosen had previously served in the armed forces in the UK and then went into security work after leaving the military. 

Military veteran Hugo Rosen was working in security while living in Dubai

Military veteran Hugo Rosen was working in security while living in Dubai

‘He went to live in Dubai in 2010 and had various business interests in Dubai. He got into some financial difficulties as a consequence of which he had his passport seized by the Dubai authorities. 

‘A five-year travel ban was put on him, meaning he could not leave Dubai for a period of five years.

‘Subsequently it appears he was able to achieve a settlement with the Dubai authorities and he returned home at some point prior to his death. He then subsequently was unable to find work in the UK.

‘He decided to go back to Dubai in June last year. He went back out there and set up a company doing fencing work on building sites.

‘It appears that the immediate circumstances surrounding Mr Rosen’s death are that in terms of the cause of death offered by the Dubai authorities it is intentional self-harm by hanging.’

The coroner, sitting in Reading, Berkshire, added Mr Rosen had been identified by his wife Lucinda and a date for a full inquest into his death had not yet been set as the Berkshire Coroner appealed for more information from the Dubai authorities.

A spokesman for the Coldstream Guards Association, Sunderland Branch, said: ‘It is unfortunately my sad duty to inform those that knew him, that Major (Retd) Hugo Rosen has sadly passed away.

‘I’m sure you will all join me in offering our sincere condolences to Hugo’s family and friends at this terrible time. Rest in peace, gone but not forgotten sir.’

Posting a tribute to Mr Rosen, Stefan Breg said on Facebook: ‘Hugo mate, such happy memories, will miss your cheeky smile and the way you engaged with even the meanest of people in dubai on a night out and left them smiling, real magic from a man with a big heart.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk