An accountant who says he was tortured into confessing to a terrorist bombing will find out this week whether he can sue the Saudi Arabian government for damages.

Ron Jones, 50, from Crawley, will be told on Wednesday whether he can continue in a £2 million-plus claim for compensation.

Mr Jones says he was drugged, beaten and hung by the hands during a 67-day interrogation ordeal two years ago after being suspected of carrying out a bombing in Riyadh.

He suffered severe post-traumatic stress disorder and depression after his release and has not worked since.

In a High Court hearing in May, lawyers for the Saudi government said the claim should be "struck out" because English courts did not have jurisdiction over a foreign sovereign state.

But Mr Jones's defence argued State immunity did not extend to civil claims of torture.

The senior High Court official reserved his decision on whether the claim, the first of its kind, could continue until this week.

Mr Jones said he was optimistic the court would accept jurisdiction for the claim but insisted he would continue to fight for justice if it failed.

He said: "Even if we don't win, we will appeal. They picked on the wrong person when they chose me. For what they've done to me and my family I'm not going to give up."

He said he still suffered panic attacks and visited a psychologist. The ordeal had left him unable to work and he was reliant on income support.

Mr Jones also said he was sure six Britons being held on bombing charges in Saudi Arabia had also been tortured.

He said: "We know their lawyers have said they were tortured into making confessions, in their appeal. Their confessions did not tally with their evidence but you don't really get any choice but to confess."

He accused the Government of ignoring the plight of the men because it feared it could jeopardise lucrative trade links between the two countries if it became involved.

Saudi authorities had linked the six to a bombing campaign, solely aimed at western targets, to a feud between rival gangs over the illicit alcohol trade.

Two were sentenced to death and the other four were handed lengthy jail terms after confessing on Saudi TV to the bombings.

But recent attacks by Islamic extremists on western targets in the country had thrown doubt on who was behind the blasts and a plea was made for clemency to the Saudi king on behalf of the six.

Their lawyer, Salah Al Hejailan, has claimed since May that the men could be released imminently.

Mr Jones said if the men were freed he hoped they would follow his lead and sue the Saudi government.

He said: "They should do. They can't be allowed to get away with what they've done. Our Government is doing nothing so we're going to have to fight this on our own."