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Published 13:36 23 Mar 2026 GMT
Updated 13:36 23 Mar 2026 GMT

A family friend has said that Isabella Daggett has endured “a whole year of hell” in a Dubai prison, after she was accused of possessing illegal substances.
The 22-year-old from Leeds is now back in the UK after spending nearly a year in prison in Dubai.
She was imprisoned in March of last year just weeks after leaving her life in West Yorkshire.
After bagging a new job as a recruitment consultant, Daggett moved to the Gulf state.
While the authorities did not make the details of her charges public, her family insisted she had simply been with the “wrong boyfriend” in the “wrong place at the wrong time”.
There is a zero tolerance for drug-related offences in Dubai, and there are several penalties for trafficking, smuggling, using and possessing illegal drugs.
Her grandmother, Heather Smith, claimed in May of last year that her niece was “locked up because she was in the wrong company”.
“She was arrested with a lad that was not her boyfriend, who she was staying with because things had fallen through with another house.”
“I don't know the whole thing. I'm not sure what charges she has been arrested for, only possession of something - probably drugs. But I don't know for certain”, she said.
Her grandmother said that Daggett couldn’t shower for a month, wasn't given a change of clothes for several weeks and had “nothing” while in a Dubai prison.
The charges against the 22-year-old were dropped in January this year, much to the relief of her family.
And as per the Daily Mail, she was finally able to fly home to the UK on Friday, 20 March.
“She's only just been released - it's been a whole year of hell”, a member told Daily Mail.
“Everyone thought she would be straight on a plane home as soon as the charges were dropped in January, because that should have been the end of it.”
“But then came this £3,000 visa overstay fine, which absolutely stunk. It felt like one last kick in the teeth after everything she'd already been through.”
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