Inside Dubai prison where Brit student jailed for life

Mia O'Brien has been sentenced to life in prison. Credit / Facebook

After she made a “very stupid mistake,” a 23-year-old British student is serving a life sentence in a prison that’s been called Dubai’s “Alcatraz” – a facility notorious for its “horrific” conditions, including allegations of torture for “sport,” overcrowding and violence.

Mia O’Brien, a law student from Merseyside, England, was arrested in October 2024 after Dubai police reportedly found 50 grams of cocaine in an apartment linked to her and two other individuals. She was charged with drug-related offenses and later convicted during a one-day court hearing on July 25.

“She pleaded not guilty – they don’t have a just trial over there,” O’Brien’s mother Danielle McKenna, 46, told the Daily Mail.

“She was just given a life sentence and has to serve 25 years. The trial was all in Arabic, and Mia was told of the sentence later by her lawyer,” said McKenna, who earlier excused her daughter’s crime as “a very stupid mistake.”

“She is absolutely devastated by what has happened. Mia is being really strong, but I know she is going through a living hell.”

O’Brien’s ‘hell’

Following her sentencing, McKenna said her daughter was transferred to “central prison” – believed to be Al-Awir, one of the United Arab Emirates’ most well-known correctional facilities.

The prison, which houses both male and female inmates, has repeatedly drawn international criticism for its conditions, with former prisoners comparing it to the infamous Alcatraz in the U.S.

Tortured with a cattle prod

In 2012, while on a weekend getaway with his friends, Karl Williams landed in Al-Awir – that he called the “Dubai version of Alcatraz” – after cops discovered drugs in the boot of his rental car.

Describing the torture in a statement shared by The Sun, Williams, a 25-year-old father of a newborn at the time, wrote: “They pulled down my trousers, spread my legs and started to electrocute my testicles. It was unbelievably painful. I was so scared. I started to believe that I was going to die in that room.”

After one year of international pressure, Williams – whose story is told in the BBC documentary High: Surviving a Dubai Drugs Bust – was freed. But, still suffering from PTSD, he said he’s become a “nightmare in everybody’s lives.”

‘Most shocking thing of my life’

David Haigh, a former managing director at Leeds United, described being beaten, tasered and threatened while he spent 23 months at the infamous detention center.

Aside from being hammered himself, Haigh shared that he witnessed officials torturing a young Pakistani man: “Three or four policemen were torturing him, standing on his throat, tasering him, using a cattle prod against him. It was the most shocking thing of my life, and I will never forget it,” he told BBC Newsnight:

Beaten for ‘sport’

According to The Sun, a report released in early 2025 claimed that sexual abuse and rape were “everyday occurrences,” adding to mounting allegations of abuse within the UAE’s prison system.

International watchdogs, including Human Rights Watch, have echoed these concerns. In various reports, the organization has documented cases where prisoners were denied access to essential medication and regular treatment. Other accounts describe prisoners being tortured and left to die, with some as young as 20 reportedly hung upside down and beaten for “sport.”

In one of the most disturbing allegations, guards are accused of burning off a prisoner’s genitals.

Inmates have also reportedly endured inhumane conditions, including being forced to drink from communal toilets due to the lack of clean water.

Despite these serious claims, Dubai’s prison authorities and government officials continue to deny any wrongdoing or systemic abuse within their correctional facilities.

Dubai’s zero-tolerance drug policy

The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has confirmed that it is providing consular support to O’Brien and her family.

On its official travel advice page, the FCDO warns British nationals about the UAE’s strict drug laws. The guidance notes that the country enforces a zero-tolerance policy, where possession of even small quantities of illegal substances can lead to “severe” prison sentences. In cases involving drug trafficking or smuggling, penalties can include life imprisonment or the death sentence.

What O’Brien can expect

Inside Al-Awir Prison, O’Brien is expected to face a series of harsh and uncomfortable realities. Although each inmate is supposed to receive a mattress, blanket, and pillow, the British Embassy has warned that these basics are often delayed for days or even weeks, The Sun reports.

One of the most difficult aspects of her sentence will likely be limited contact with her family. In Dubai, prison visitation is restricted to once a week, typically on Wednesdays – but visits are frequently cancelled without notice or abruptly cut short.

While prisoners are allowed to make phone calls, every call must reportedly be individually approved by guards, and officers have the authority to block all phone access for extended periods as a form of punishment.

Inmates are cautioned by embassy officials to avoid drinking the tap water, which is freely available in the canteen but considered unsafe. Adding to the discomfort, prison blocks are known to be extremely cold at night, with air conditioning units kept running at full power, making it difficult for prisoners to sleep.

While O’Brien settles in for what’s expected to be a decades-long sentence, attention continues to grow around the conditions at Al-Awir Prison. Despite repeated calls for oversight and reform, the facility remains a symbol of the UAE’s uncompromising stance on drug offenses and the challenges faced by foreign nationals navigating the country’s judicial system.

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