23-year-old British law student, Mia O’Brien, has gotten herself into some serious trouble in Dubai. She was caught with 50 grams of cocaine and ended up getting slapped with a 25-year jail sentence.
Now, I don’t know about you, but that seems like a fair punishment. I mean, 25 years seems harsh for 50g of coke. But hey, rules are rules, especially in a place like Dubai where they don’t mess around when it comes to drugs.
Mia O’Brien, 23, a student at the University of Liverpool, was reportedly detained earlier this year while staying in an apartment in Dubai with friends. Her family said the aspiring lawyer was handed the sentence without a fair trial, and is now enduring appalling prison conditions that include overcrowded cells, violence and a near-total lack of legal rights.
‘She pleaded not guilty — they don’t have a just trial over there’, said her mother, Danielle McKenna, 46, in an interview with The Daily Mail. ‘The trial was all in Arabic, and Mia was told of the sentence later by her lawyer.’
McKenna said her daughter is ‘absolutely devastated by what has happened’ and is currently serving her sentence in Dubai’s infamous Central Prison — also known as Al-Awir — which has been dubbed the affluent city’s version of Alcatraz.
In addition to the jail term, O’Brien was also slapped with a staggering fine of £100,000 by the court.
‘Mia said she has to sleep on a mattress on the floor and shares the cell with six others’, her mother added. ‘The prison conditions are horrendous. There are no staff really, and she has to bang on a big door if she needs anything. She’s seen fights and said she has been really scared.’
So, moral of the story – be careful where you’re carrying your stash, folks. You don’t want to end up like Mia O’Brien, sitting in a jail cell for the next couple of decades. Just some food for thought.
Flip the page for more photos of Mia.
