Emirati royal sentenced for child neglect after cocaine binge
What's the story
An Abu Dhabi royal has been sentenced for child neglect after she was found unconscious on a busy street in West London with a three-year-old child under her care in June. Mahrah Al Nahyan, 32, a member of the royal family through marriage, was found barefoot and slumped against metal railings. Next to her was an unconscious man lying on his back. The toddler was seen playing near moving traffic without shoes, raising alarm among passersby who called the police.
Legal proceedings
Al Nahyan pleaded guilty to 1 count of child neglect
Al Nahyan pleaded guilty to one count of child neglect at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday.
She was sentenced to a two-year community order with rehabilitation requirements and ordered to pay a £5,000 fine and £1,000 in prosecution costs.
Al Nahyan is married into the House of Nahyan, the dynasty that has ruled Abu Dhabi for generations and from which UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan comes.
The family is estimated to be worth over £250 billion.
Family background
She has shown 'significant remorse'
During Tuesday's sentencing, the judge was told that Al Nahyan, who admitted to taking cocaine in the days before the incident, was too out of it to answer to police for 30 minutes.
When she finally awoke, she yelled, "This is not a slaughterhouse, why do you care so much? Why are you so worried?"
Her defense lawyer said she had shown "significant remorse" and intended to complete the three-month rehabilitation program at Priory in Woking, Surrey.
Judicial remarks
Judge's statement on case
A passerby "noticed the child was unattended, without shoes on the street with a scooter, and members of the public intervened as he seemed to be in close proximity to moving traffic," prosecutor Rio Pahlavanpour told the judge.
The toddler, the judge said, had run toward the road while chasing a piece of paper before being stopped.
"But for the intervention of strangers there was a serious risk they would be seriously injured or worse," he said.