Pregnant woman jailed in Spain is back home in Scotland
- Published
Jamielee described her time in prison as a living hell
A pregnant woman who faced the prospect of giving birth in a Spanish prison after being jailed for failing to pay a fine has returned to Scotland.
Jamielee Fielding, 32, previously travelled home to Livingston without paying a 420 euro fine over a drunken altercation in Malaga in 2021.
But when she went on holiday to Tenerife in August she was arrested and sentenced to four months in prison.
Ms Fielding's local MP Hannah Bardell confirmed she was back in the UK.
Ms Bardell, who travelled to Spain with Ms Fielding's father, told BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime programme the mother-to-be arrived home on 18 October.
The SNP member for Livingston said Ms Fielding was "pretty shaken up" when she returned to West Lothian but determined to look to the future.
Ms Bardell added: "I have absolutely no doubt she is going to make an incredible mum and she has a fantastic support network round her.
"I am just so delighted and relieved to have her back on Scottish soil."
The MP told the programme she hoped lessons would be learned from the case, especially the lack of access Ms Fielding - who has gestational diabetes - initially had to healthcare.
Ms Bardell added: "The truth is I will never know, and I don't think any of us will ever know, why the Spanish authorities chose to be so harsh."
She also thanked the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for its support and BBC Scotland journalists for raising the profile of the case.
Ms Fielding's baby is due on 28 November but she would not have completed her sentence until 16 December.
Earlier this month, Ms Fielding described her ordeal as "unimaginable" and urged the UK authorities to help her.
She travelled to Tenerife on 19 August for a family holiday with her father and brother, who had arrived a few days earlier.
Ms Fielding was detained at passport control and two police officers escorted her to baggage reclaim before taking her to a police station.
Once there, she was told about the outstanding fine.
Jamielee Fielding is due to give birth on 28 November
Ms Fielding told BBC Scotland: "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.
She was then transferred to the De Tenerife el Rosario prison in Santa Cruz, north Tenerife.
Frame of mind
Ms Fielding spent the first six weeks of her sentence in the maximum security jail which she described as "a living hell".
She said the toilet was a hole in the ground and she was given a piece of foam to sleep on.
Ms Fielding had originally incurred two fines after she travelled to Malaga in 2021 to identify the body of her mother, who 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.
Ms Fielding was handed two fines totalling 420 euros, which she did not pay.
Ms Bardell had previously called on the foreign secretary to intervene in the case and told the Commons she was deeply concerned for her constituent's wellbeing.
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- Published1 October 2022
