Mystery still surrounds a British law student’s reasons for travelling to Dubai despite her being jailed for life for allegedly being found with around £2,500 of Class A drugs
A student from Merseyside was given a life sentence in the Middle East for allegedly being caught with 50g of Class A drugs.
After being arrested in Dubai last October with cocaine worth around £2,500, Mia O’Brien, 23, was convicted in July and her story only surfaced publicly a few days ago.
Her mother Danielle McKenna has recently spoken about what happened to her daughter, who had high hopes of becoming a lawyer, and the cryptic reason she travelled to Dubai last year. Danielle claimed Mia had made a “stupid mistake” when she flew to see a friend and her boyfriend – whose identities haven’t been revealed – in the United Arab Emirates city where she was arrested.
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Speaking to the Mail, the mum-of-five revealed what she knows about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the trip. “She’s just made a stupid mistake after going over to see a friend and her boyfriend in Dubai,” she said. “But she paid for her own flight as she had a bit of savings. No one paid for her flight so she’s not one of these wannabe influencers.
“I don’t think she was asked to bring anything back. She was caught with cocaine in an apartment. It was about 50 grams and there were two other people – her friend included. They have been charged with drug dealing. I don’t know whether the friend’s boyfriend was a drug dealer but I feel he has a lot to answer for.”
There are no details on whether the friend and her partner were convicted or freed, or even where they are now. However, prosecutors accused Mia, who pleaded not guilty, with intent to supply during a one day hearing on July 25, which her mum says was all in Arabic.
She was also fined a huge £100,000 by the court before being sent to the notorious Dubai Central Prison where she is now said to be enduring a “living hell”.
The infamous jail is well known for overcrowding, violent attacks, and squalid conditions. There have also been reports of rape, and of prisoners being tortured into confessions.
Inmates endure a total lack of privacy, with cells intended to hold three or four packed with as many as twenty. Some even share beds with other prisoners. Mia is sleeping on a mattress on the floor in a cell with six others and is “scared”, according to her mum.
The 46-year-old revealed: “She is absolutely devastated by what has happened. Mia is being really strong but I know she is going through a living hell. The prison conditions are horrendous. There are no staff really and she has to bang on a big door if she needs anything. She’s seen fights and said she has been really scared.”
The family are hopeful that an appeal may mean Mia, who was studying law at Liverpool University, can serve her sentence at home. Danielle claims her daughter hadn’t been in trouble before and she didn’t believe she was intending to bring the drugs back to the UK to sell.
She set up a GoFundMe appeal to try and raise money for legal fees. Until then the reason for her incarceration had been kept secret because the family were said to be shocked and heartbroken and didn’t want to go public.
Writing on the appeal page Danielle explained: “Mia has been given a life sentence over in Dubai and she is now in central prison. As you can all probably imagine, as her mother I am absolutely devastated. I haven’t seen my daughter since last October. Mia is only 23 years old and has never done a bad thing in her life.
“This is a young girl, who went to university to do law, and unfortunately got mixed up in the wrong so-called friends and made a very stupid mistake and is now paying the price. So all I ask is if you can donate anything you can spare, even if it’s a £1, it could help up massively and I would be forever grateful. Thank you so much.”
The fundraiser was shut down for violating GoFundMe terms and conditions on crime. A spokesperson said: “It was removed because it violates Term 9 of the Prohibited Conduct section in our Terms of Service. Term 9 prohibits raising funds on GoFundMe for the legal defence of certain alleged crimes.”
Danielle thanked those who had already donated to the fund and detailed how their money would be spent: “I just want to thank everyone for their donations so far, this money will be used to send to my daughter Mia, and also for any legal fees that may arise, and maybe even to go towards getting family over to Dubai to see her, as none of us have seen Mia since last October, so thank you all so much.”
She has now set up a new fundraiser for Mia and shared her bank details on Facebook with a request that people donate money to her directly. “I am going to set up my own, as they [GoFundMe] are nitpicking at everything,” she said.