Pregnant Scot could be forced to give birth in Spanish prison
- Published
Jamielee Fielding says she is worried about having her baby in a foreign jail
A seven-months pregnant Scottish woman faces being forced to give birth in a Spanish prison after being jailed for failing to pay a fine.
Jamielee Fielding returned home to Livingston without paying a 420 euro fine over a drunken altercation in Malaga in 2021.
She went on holiday to Tenerife in August and was arrested before being sentenced to four months in prison.
She is now urging the UK authorities to help end her "living hell".
Ms Fielding, 32, told BBC Scotland: "It's been unimaginable. I can't contemplate having my baby here in a foreign hospital.
"All I want is to be back home in a Scottish hospital with my family around me to have a safe birth and make sure she is healthy.
"I'm looking for a miracle because right now it doesn't look like there's any way I can get back."
Ms Fielding travelled to Tenerife on 19 August for a family holiday with her father and brother, who had arrived a few days earlier.
'This can't be right'
She was detained at passport control and two police officers escorted her to baggage reclaim before taking her to a police station.
Speaking from a hotel room while on weekend release from prison, Ms Fielding said: "It wasn't until we were down in the police station that they explained about the fine that was outstanding.
"I had 400 euros in cash with me, in my bag, just in case it happened."
She offered to hand over the money but was told she would need to see a judge and was eventually transferred to a cell.
A lawyer and interpreter visited the cell and informed Ms Fielding that she would be taken to prison.
She said: "I started crying and I said this can't be right, I've got the money here."
The translator explained she could no longer pay the fine and the judge wanted her to complete a four-month prison sentence.
Jamielee Fielding is due to give birth on 28 November
She was then transferred to the high-security De Tenerife el Rosario prison in Santa Cruz, north Tenerife.
Ms Fielding had originally incurred two fines after she travelled to Malaga in 2021 to identify her mother's body after she died while on holiday.
She said she had "not been in the right frame of mind" and ended up being arrested for drunken behaviour on the beach.
She was handed two fines totalling 420 euros, which she did not pay.
She told BBC Scotland she now fears her baby daughter will be born in prison, in conditions that she believes could damage their health, especially as the mother-to-be has gestational diabetes.
"She's due on 28 November and I've pretty much been told to prepare to have her here." Ms Fielding said. "I will need to have her here because there's no way of reducing the sentence.
"I'll need to complete the full four months which take me up to 16 December, so I need to be ready to have her here."
Ms Fielding spent the first six weeks of her sentence in a maximum security prison which she described as "a living hell".
The toilet was a hole in the ground and she was given a piece of foam to sleep on.
Sheer anxiety
She said: "It wasn't good for the baby or my health.
"It was a constant worry, just the sheer anxiety the full time and you've got nothing else to do other than overthink. So it was just awful thoughts going through my head.
"I just wanted to make sure that the baby was okay but I felt so guilty about her and what she was going through."
She has now been moved to an open prison where she is allowed weekend release and is due back behind bars on Monday.
Livingston MP Hannah Bardell has called on the foreign secretary to intervene in Ms Fielding's case.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday, Ms Bardell said she was deeply concerned for her constituent's wellbeing.
She said: "The way Jamielee has been treated in Spain has been disgusting.
"This should not be tolerated and an investigation by the Foreign Office must look into the way British citizens are treated in Spain.
"Whilst my constituent is under the care of the Spanish authorities, she must be treated with dignity, care, and respect under the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights."
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We are providing consular assistance to a British woman detained in Tenerife."