A young mum from the north-east has returned home to her family after spending Christmas in a Bahraini jail cell – and been reunited with her son.
Hannah James left Fraserburgh for the Middle East last year to live with her husband, Jassim Alhaddar.
But she was arrested by police after he accused her of having an affair, and beat her up.
The 26-year-old was jailed for a month until Mr Alhaddar “forgave” her and the charges were dropped last week.
Her family had launched a massive campaign online to bring her home, and had accused Mr Alhaddar of destroying her passport to prevent her from leaving the country.
A fundraiser was also set up following the allegations which provided £2,500 to pay for any legal costs Ms James incurred.
Last night, the family released a statement to update friends that Ms James had returned to the UK this week and has been reunited with her four-year-old boy, Nelson.
Her mum, Shelley James, said: “I can now confirm that Hannah is home in the UK and reunited with her son.
“As you will be aware this has been a very worrying and terrifying ordeal for Hannah and us as a family.
“We would like to give thanks to the many people that shared the post of our plight to get our daughter home, the very generous individuals that donated, the people that signed the petition and to the people that offered their kind words of support – especially to friends and family in the north-east of Scotland.”
Branding the ordeal “a very difficult time”, she also thanked the Alhaddar family “that supported Hannah and kept her safe when she was released from prison”.
Mr Alhaddar had admitted to hitting his wife last week when images circulated social media showing her covered in bruises.
He claimed he only attacked her because he caught her cheating and that they were both injured in the altercation.
He claimed: “Both of us had bruises.”
He also suggested that his wife had burned her passport by accident by hiding it in an oven, and then forgetting it was there.
“I am filing for divorce and the custody of my son,” he said.
Yesterday, the James family did not respond to calls for comment.
Peterhead MP Eilidh Whiteford had been approached by family friends for her help.
She said: “I am very pleased to learn that Hannah has been freed, and has now returned to the UK.
“This will doubtless be a huge relief to her family and friends.”
