Mia O’Brien is serving a life sentence in a notorious Dubai jail after she was allegedly caught with cocaine – her desperate mum has set up a new fundraiser after her previous one was removed
The mum of a young Brit, allegedly caught with 50g of cocaine and jailed in Dubai, has set up a new fundraiser in a desperate bid to bring her daughter home.
Mia O’Brien, 23, was handed a life sentence and jailed for 25 years following a one-day hearing after she was allegedly found with £2,500 worth of the Class A drug in October, according to her mum. The Liverpool University law student pleaded not guilty but was sent to Dubai Central Prison, where she is living with six other inmates. Mia’s desperate mum has set up a new fundraiser for her daughter after her previous GoFundMe account was deleted.
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The student’s mum, Danielle McKenna, had her original fundraising page removed on Friday for violating community rules. Now, the mum has shared her bank details on Facebook and asked people to donate money to her directly.
Danielle said: “I am going to set up my own, as they [GoFundMe] are nitpicking at everything.” The mum then said direct donations would allow her to keep all the money instead or giving a cut to GoFundMe. She added: “I would just like to thank everyone.”
A spokesperson for GoFundMe, on the original fundraiser being deleted, 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.”
In the original GoFundMe page, the heartbroken mum wrote: “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.”
Mia was arrested when the 50g of cocaine was allegedly found inside her apartment in “one big chunk”. She was arrested alongside her friend and her pal’s boyfriend – all three were charged with drug dealing. Mis was jailed for 25 years and handed a huge £100,000 fine.
Speaking with the MailOnline, Mia’s mum, claimed: “Mia feels she has destroyed her life as she wanted to be a lawyer or solicitor. I speak to her but she can’t say too much on the phone. She’s just made a stupid mistake after going over to see a friend and her boyfriend in Dubai.”
According to the student’s mum, Mia is not a drug taker and has never previously been in trouble. The mother of five also doesn’t believe her daughter intended to either sell the drugs or take them back with her.