A British law student has been jailed for life in Dubai after what her family calls a “very stupid mistake.” Mia O’Brien, 23, from Liverpool, is now held in a UAE prison while her devastated family pleads for help.
Her mother, Danielle McKenna, said: “I haven’t seen my daughter since last October. She has never done a bad thing in her life.” She explained that Mia fell in with the wrong friends and is now “paying the price.”
The family briefly launched a fundraiser to cover legal fees and travel costs but later took it down. Danielle added, “She’s just been transferred to another prison after getting a life sentence. It’s been a massive shock.”
In the UAE, a life sentence for foreigners usually means 25 years in jail before deportation. Authorities warn that even trace amounts of drugs in the bloodstream count as possession.
Mia’s story is a painful reminder of how one mistake abroad can change a life forever. What lessons should young travelers take from this?