A BRITISH woman detained in Dubai was given life in prison after she was caught with 50g of cocaine, her mum has revealed.
Mia O’Brien, from Huyton, Merseyside, was handed a 25 year prison sentence after she was found with the drugs which have a street value in the UK of £2,500.
GoFundMeMia O’Brien faces the next 25 years in prison in Dubai.[/caption]
GoFundMeJailed Brit Mia O’Brien with her devastated mother Danielle McKenna (right)[/caption]
GoFundMeLaw student Mia got ‘mixed up with the wrong so-called friends’ while at university, according to her mum[/caption]
Her family this week issued a plea for help saying she had “never done a bad thing in her life” and had made a “very stupid mistake.
But now her heartbroken mum Danielle McKenna, 46, has revealed new details about her jail term.
She revealed that Mia, 23, was caught with 50 grams of the Class A drug in the Middle East last October.
The huge amount of cocaine was found inside Mia’s hotel room in “one big chunk”.
And the Liverpool University law student was convicted by a judge in a one day hearing on July 25.
Mia was also fined a staggering £100,000 by the court before being sent to the hellish Dubai Central Prison, also known as Al-Awir.
The notorious lock-up has been dubbed the affluent city’s version of infamous jail Alcatraz.
“Mia feels she has destroyed her life as she wanted to be a lawyer or solicitor, ” Danielle told the Daily Mail.
“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.”
The mother-of-five said Mia pleaded not guilty to intent to supply the drugs.
But the judge swiftly ended the trial and handed her a life sentence of which she has to serve 25 years.
Danielle said: “The trial was all in Arabic and Mia was told of the sentence later by her lawyer.
“She is absolutely devastated by what has happened. Mia is being really strong but I know she is going through a living hell.”
Mia and Danielle have been in contact as much as possible during the Brit’s jail stint so far.
The young student is sharing a cell with six other women and is forced to sleep on the floor every night with just a mattress and single pillow.
“The prison conditions are horrendous. There are no staff really and she has to bang on a big door if she needs anything,” Danielle revealed.
“She’s seen fights and said she has been really scared.
“She was crying on the phone and saying ‘Oh mum – please forgive me’.”
Up until today, the family kept the reason why Mia had been jailed private.
Danielle admitted the family were shocked and heartbroken when they learned about the drugs.
Mia has never taken a drug in her life and would never dream of selling cocaine, according to her mum.
Danielle is confident that her daughter is innocent as she labelled Mia a “victim of a miscarriage of justice”.
Adding: “I definitely don’t think she was going to sell the drugs or bring them back.
“It’s a lot of drugs but there are others involved and she has just been caught up in it.”
AFPThe Al-Awir prison is notorious for facing dozens of horror allegations of abuse, torture and rape from former inmates[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
