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23-year-old British student jailed for life in Dubai over 'very stupid mistake', mother ‘devastated’
A 23-year-old British student has been jailed for life in Dubai over what her mother calls a “very stupid mistake”.
A 23-year-old British student has been jailed for life in Dubai over what her mother calls a “very stupid mistake”. Mia O'Brien was handed a life sentence and is currently being held in the city’s central prison.
Her “devastated” mother Danielle McKenna, 46, says that she hasn’t seen Mia since October last year. Mia, a law student from Liverpool, was described as a young girl who got mixed up with the wrong crowd in a GoFundMe fundraiser that has since been taken down.
A GoFundMe spokesperson told The Sun that the fundraiser “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," they explained.
A very stupid mistake
“Mia has been given a life sentence over in Dubai and she is now in central prison,” her heartbroken mother wrote in the now-deleted GoFundMe page.
“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,” said Danielle McKenna.
“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.”
A life sentence in Dubai
A life sentence in the United Arab Emirates can mean anywhere between 15 to 25 years in jail.
The country, known for its strict laws, typically hands down life sentences for drug trafficking and possession, murder or attempted murder, human trafficking and terrorism-related activities, according to a report in The Sun.
What did Mia O'Brien do?
Mia’s family did not reveal her crime, only describing it as a “very stupid mistake”.
According to a report in The Mirror, however, the university student was caught with 50 grams of the Class A drug in October. The drug was valued at around 2,500 pounds ( ₹3 lakh approximately).
