Mum Of Brit, 23, Jailed For Life In Dubai After ‘Very Stupid Mistake’ Gives Christmas Update
You may remember Mia O’Brien, 23, from Huyton, Liverpool and the ‘stupid mistake‘ which earned her a life sentence in Dubai jail last September.
Law student Mia was found with 50 grams of cocaine at a house party in Dubai, which meant she not only received a term of life imprisonment, but also had to fork out $136,000 as a fine.
Well, the good news is that Mia was granted a (very) early release from Dubai’s Al-Awir Central Prison earlier this month (December), and was able to spend Christmas at home with her family in good old Blighty.
Her mum Danielle posted a video montage to TikTok on Christmas morning, titling it ‘She’s Home’ and writing ‘Home where she belongs’.
The mum said in the replies: “It’s like a Christmas miracle, best Christmas ever.“
She added: “Mia feels she has destroyed her life as she wanted to be a solicitor.
“She is absolutely devastated by what has happened.”
According to campaign group Detained in Dubai, Mia had been convicted in a single-day trial conducted entirely in Arabic. No English translation was provided, but instead Mia was swiftly put on trial and convicted without understanding what the hell anyone around her was saying.
Founder Radha Stirling stated: “Dubai police have a history of rushing to secure convictions without the rigorous evidentiary standards we expect in the UK.
“Mia’s case could be the latest in a long line of miscarriages of justice.”
Detained in Dubai had been working on an appeal for Mia, but thanks to her Royal pardon, that will no longer be necessary.
So why would Dubai let this particular Brit go home early after breaching their incredibly strict drug laws?
Speaking to The Sun, a UAE-based legal expert said: “They did not specify a reason for her release and such things are not made public, but keeping a young Brit in jail for 25 years would have been bad for Dubai’s PR, so I believe that would be why they decided to set her free.”
I suppose that makes a lot of sense. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have made a lot of progress as far as adapting certain attitudes and policies to make the region look an attractive prospect for international tourism. No use to then throw a 23-year-old English girl in prison for life for having 50g of cocaine on her, is there?
Then again, Thailand would have done the same thing and it’s one of the most popular tourist spots in the world. Go figure.
Well, either way, Mia O’Brien is a very lucky girl indeed to be back home for Christmas and beyond. Being caught with any amount of cocaine in a country that’s notorious for its contempt of drugs is just beyond stupid, but at the end of the day she’s only 23 years old and it’s brutal to think that someone that age can spend their prime years wasting away in a Dubai prison over something so foolish.
For the British man who was left devastated after being kicked out of Dubai due to his face tattoos, click HERE.
