A GoFundMe page created by the family of a 23-year-old student who has been jailed for life in the United Arab Emirates has been taken down for violating the site’s guidelines.
Mia O’Brien, a former University of Liverpool student from Huyton, was served a 25 year sentence in Dubai this week after being caught with 50 grams of cocaine.
The family of the 23-year-old made an urgent plea for help via a GoFundMe donation page, which was set up to aid with legal fees and travel costs following her trial.
The fundraiser has since been wiped from the website as it violated the organisation’s guidelines.
Via GoFundMe
A spokesperson for GoFundMe told reporters: “It was removed because it violates Term 9 of the Prohibited Conduct section in our Terms of Service.
“Term 9 prohibits raising funds on GoFundMe for the legal defence of certain alleged crimes”.
The student’s mum, Danielle McKenna, posted a statement to the GoFundMe page, claiming she was “devastated” at the news of her daughter’s incarceration, and called upon friends and relatives to “donate anything you can spare”.
She has since made another appeal on her personal Facebook page, asking for direct donations to be made to her bank account.
Writing on Facebook, her mum wrote: “Seems as the GoFundMe are being absolute c**ts”.
“I am going to set up my own, as they are nitpicking at everything, so they can shove there cut up their arse”.
Mia O’Brien’s family haven’t seen her since was arrested in October.
She was in possession of 50 grams of the Class A drug, which has an estimated street value of £2,500 in the UK.
Her mum claimed she planned to use the fundraiser money to cover travel costs in order to visit her daughter, who is now jailed in Dubai Central Prison and facing a life sentence under United Arab Emirates law.
The fundraiser, which had a target of £1,600, had collected just under £700 before it then disappeared.
Via Facebook
Before its deletion, Danielle McKenna shared a follow-up statement to the GoFundMe page, thanking those who had sent money to the family to aid them in their attempt to release their daughter from the Dubai prison.
“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”.
Mia has four siblings at home in Huyton, including two younger brothers aged five and seven.
“None of us have seen Mia since last October, so thank you all so much” she wrote.
The GoFundMe page was taken down on Friday – the family later revealed the reason why Mia had been jailed to the press.
The 23-year-old studied law at the University of Liverpool but now faces life imprisonment in Dubai Central Jail, a prison her mother has deemed “a living hell”.
Speaking out after the fundraiser’s deletion, her mum continued to say: “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”.
Via Facebook
The mum-of-five blamed “the wrong so-called friends” for the “stupid mistake” her daughter made, but believes she is a “victim of a miscarriage of justice” that “has destroyed her life as she wanted to be a lawyer or solicitor”.
She emphasised that “she’s never been in trouble and is not a drug taker”.
Mia pleaded not guilty to drug offences in court, but was convicted by a judge after just a day-long hearing on July 25.
The 23-year-old was also fined £100,000 by the judge.
She has not paid the court’s 500,000 dirham fine but is due to have an appeal in the following weeks.
