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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Stuart Macdonald & Kris Gourlay

Heavily pregnant West Lothian mum jailed in Tenerife over 'unpaid fine' returns home

A pregnant West Lothian mum who feared she may be forced to give birth in a Spanish prison has returned home to Scotland.

Jamielee Fielding, from Livingston, was jailed for failing to pay a fine over a drunken altercation in Malaga in 2021. When the 32-year-old returned to Spain in August 2022, she was detained and given a four month sentence.

The Record reports how a fee of only £360 almost lead to Jamielee giving birth in jail. She was reportedly 'not in the right frame of mind' shortly after her mum died unexpectedly on holiday and that led to her getting involved in the altercation.

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Jamielee was arrested for drunken behaviour on a beach and said she intended to pay the fine when she arrived in Tenerife this year but was not allowed to and was sent to prison instead.

She spent the first six weeks of her sentence in the maximum security jail which she described as "a living hell". Speaking last month, she said: "It's been unimaginable. I can't contemplate having my baby here in a foreign hospital.

Local MP Hannah Bardell travelled to the Canary Islands to help free Jamielee. (Daily Record)

"All I want is to be back home in a Scottish hospital with my family around me to have a safe birth and make sure she is healthy. I'm looking for a miracle because right now it doesn't look like there's any way I can get back."

Local MP Hannah Bardell also travelled to the Canaries two weeks ago to help secure her safe return home. The SNP MP for Livingston has spoken of her relief that Spanish police "saw sense" over the arrest.

Ms Bardell said: "I travelled along with her dad, at my own cost, to support my constituent Jamielee and to ensure a smooth and safe passage home from Tenerife. It's been a difficult and upsetting time for her since she lost her mum last year, now I hope she can look to the future.

"Wishing her and her family all the very best and hope her baby arrives safely in the coming weeks. I'm grateful to the staff at the Foreign Office who my team and I worked closely with to help ensure safe passage.

"I'm glad the Spanish authorities finally saw sense and I hope that some lessons will be learned about fair and proper treatment of foreign nationals in Spain."

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