The British student jailed for 25 years in Dubai after making a “very stupid mistake” has been released, marking a major update in a case that has been in and out of headlines throughout the latter half of 2025.
Mia O’Brien, a law student at the University of London, was in the Middle East last year on holiday when police raided a party and allegedly found 50 grams of cocaine. The drug reportedly had a street value of around $3,300, and its presence was enough to see O’Brien convicted of drug supply and possession charges on July 25.
As per The Sun, Mia was arrested along with her friend and the friend’s boyfriend. The trio were charged with drug dealing – which carries notoriously harsh punishments in Dubai –and Mia was handed a 25-year sentence. The student was also fined over $100,000 by the court.
The 23-year-old pled not guilty at a trial said to have been held entirely in Arabic. Nevertheless, she was sentenced to a quarter of a century behind bars at Al-Awir Central Prison, a facility previously been described as a ‘hellhole’.