Law Student, 23, Jailed for Life. After ‘Very Stupid Mistake’

A 23-year-old British woman has been sentenced to life in Dubai after making a “very stupid mistake” in the notoriously strict Emirati country.

Law student Mia O’Brien is currently in Dubai’s central prison as her mother Danielle McKenna, 46, desperately tries to raise funds for travel and legal fees to help her out of the desperate situation.

On the fundraiser, Danielle 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.”

In a follow-up post, she thanked people who had donated, saying: “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.”

Speaking to the MailOnline, she added: “She’s going through it at the minute. She’s just been transferred to another prison after getting a life sentence. It’s been a massive shock.”

While the details of Mia’s crime have not been shared, the Emirate countries can hand out life sentences – which is 15 years in jail – for crimes like drug trafficking, serious violence, and terrorism.

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According to the UK foreign office, British visitors are explicitly warned not to flout the country’s laws, singling out drug offences in particular.

On its travel advice for Dubai, the FCDO says: “There is zero tolerance for drugs-related offences. The penalties for trafficking, smuggling, using and possessing illegal drugs (including residual amounts) are severe.

Sentences for drug trafficking can include the death penalty. Possession of even the smallest amount of illegal drugs, including cannabis, can lead to a minimum 3-month prison term or a fine of between 20,000 UAE dirham (£4,000) and 100,000 UAE dirham (£20,000).

“The Emirati authorities count the presence of drugs in the blood stream as possession.