Tourist jailed in Turkey for 'stupid mistake' while toasting partner's new teeth
A woman has been imprisoned in a Turkish jail for the last six weeks after she trashed a hotel room while drunkenly celebrating her boyfriend's new teeth.
On May 2, Georgia Harrison, 32, along with her boyfriend Arron Tighe, also 32, landed in Antalya, Turkey, but things took a disastrous turn just four days into their trip.
The couple, from Rochdale in the UK, were celebrating Arron having got himself a fresh set of teeth costing £2,000 (approximately €2,350). The celebrations, however, took a wild turn back in their hotel suite hours later, reports The Daily Star.
The couple had damaged the shower screen in their hotel room during the celebrations, but while trying to depart the premises in a taxi and head to the airport, they were both arrested.
Georgia, who cleans for a living, reckons she made 'the worst mistake of my life' that evening by mixing her drink with antipsychotic medication, which caused her to lose consciousness and 'throw things around' in the room, shattering a full-length glass bathroom screen.
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Speaking to MailOnline, she said: "It's driving me insane, I feel like I have got no way out of here. I know I did wrong and I regret being so stupid to have damaged the hotel, but I need to get home to my daughter.
"I just feel so weak and I'm getting nowhere, it's killing me. I understand I have done wrong but I'm not a bank robber or a drug smuggler - I made a stupid mistake, I don't even remember doing it, but I have done all I can to fix it."
After their arrest, the couple allege they were detained in a police cell for days, interrogated without legal representation, and accused of resisting arrest because Georgia wouldn't respond to questions. They subsequently appeared before a judge and were prohibited from leaving Turkey until a £15,000 hotel bill (approximately €17,500) was settled.
The couple reached out to the British Embassy in Turkey, which was unable to lift a travel ban on them, and suggested they seek legal counsel. They claim they spent £2,500 (approximately €2,900) on a lawyer who vowed to resolve the issue, yet six weeks on, they remain stranded in Turkey, unable to leave.
Georgia, a mother to 12-year-old Poppy, is distraught as her daughter repeatedly phones to enquire when she'll return home, prompting Georgia to initiate a GoFundMe campaign to cover the cost of the damages so she can fly back.
"It's heartbreaking, she doesn't understand why I can't come home. Sometimes I think I'm never going to get back to her," Georgia said.
On her GoFundMe page, Georgia wrote: "I feel so ashamed writing this but my daughter needs me and this is my only hope. I feel like giving up but that's not me, yet I also feel so lucky to be alive.
"I put all faith in my lawyer giving him my power of attorney but l'm getting nowhere. I'm losing everything slowly, even my will to live. I just need to get home to my baby and my dog.
"I don't understand how such a stupid mistake has led me here. It is illegal for them to keep me here and I've no option but to start telling my story."
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