A British student is facing 25 years in jail and a £100,000 fine for doing “a single line of cocaine” on holiday in Dubai, it is claimed.
Mia O’Brien, 23, could be held in the notorious Al Awir prison in Dubai until 2050 after being found guilty at a day-long trial conducted solely in Arabic, according to the Sun.
Mia was arrested alongside a British female friend and her boyfriend when Dubai police reportedly seized 50g of cocaine from a flat where they were partying last October.
The trial was held on July 25, but the sentence and fine have only been revealed this month after Mia’s mother Danielle McKenna, 46, of Huyton in Liverpool, launched a heart-felt fundraiser in the hopes of getting the conviction overturned.
The GoFundMe page created by Danielle has since been taken down after reaching just under £700 for violating the site’s guidelines, as raising funds for the “legal defence of certain alleged crimes” is prohibited.
On the now deleted page, mother Danielle wrote: “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.”
Mia was held at the Al Barsha police detention centre before being moved to the Al Awir jail following her trial.
A British mum, held alongside Mia, told The Sun: “She said they were at a party and having fun and suddenly police turned up and put her in a car.
“There were drugs at the party and she said to me ‘I took drugs’. Mia knew she was in big trouble but didn’t seem to think she would be treated as a dealer.
“She seemed to take the view that while she had taken coke, she wasn’t dealing drugs.
“That’s how she acted in the detention centre.
“If what she’s saying is true and all she has done is a line of cocaine, 25 years is a horrifically long sentence. She said she was visiting on holiday and had only been there a few days.”
Mia’s ex-cell mate, who was detained for leaving the scene of a car accident, but released after paying a £3,000 fine, said: “Mia had fallen out with her friend as she said it was the boyfriend who had the cocaine.
“Her problem was that they had all been arrested and Mia had it in her system.
“Her friend didn’t so she was released and is back in the UK. Mia thinks she must have stitched her up to get home.”
Mia’s friend, who has only been identified as Emma, tested negative for cocaine and was released without charge.
