Deported from Dubai... for working without the permission of her husband



Teacher was at work when was arrested and thrown into notorious Middle Eastern prison

Bitter husband complained about her in tug-of-war over their adopted daughter



A British mother has been deported from Dubai – and forced to leave her six-year-old daughter behind – for working without her estranged husband’s permission.

Secondary school teacher Tess Lorrigan was in her classroom with a group of 13-year-old children when she was arrested by immigration officials and thrown into one of the Middle Eastern state’s notoriously tough prisons for two days.

She had taken the job teaching media and film studies to support her adopted daughter Olianne after separating from her husband of eight years, expat company director Michael Lorrigan.

Court Battle: Tess and her adopted daughter Olianne

Tess claims he lodged the complaint after becoming bitter over their tug-of-love battle for Olianne.



In Dubai, it is an offence for a married woman to work without her husband’s permission.

But Mr Lorrigan insists he became frustrated after Tess broke their access agreement and disappeared with their daughter while he was away on business.

Tess then spent six months and £6,000 fighting for the right to remain in the oil-rich country, and for custody of Olianne, after the girl went to live with Michael. But Tess was deported back to the UK last month and now faces spending Christmas without her daughter.



Tess, now living in the New Forest in Hampshire, said: ‘I feel lost. Olianne loves Christmas. Every other year we’ve come to the UK or my parents have come out. Olianne’s always had her family and her cousins with her.

‘She will have a very lonely Christmas this year. There have been moments when I have felt desperate.



'I don’t know how long it’s going to be before I see my daughter again and I don’t know what to do for the best.’

Estranged: Tess had taken the job in Dubai (pictured) to support her adopted daughter after separating from her husband

Tess moved out to Dubai 15 years ago and married Mr Lorrigan, now 59, the managing director of a training company, in 2001.



The couple could not have children but travelled to Nepal to adopt Olianne in February 2008. However, their marriage broke down in 2009.

Tess then began divorce proceedings through the UK courts, which have still not concluded.

She found a teaching job in the neighbouring emirate of Sharjah, half an hour from Dubai – but was stunned when police arrested her in May as Michael had not formally approved she could work.

She said: ‘It is a law but it is rarely enforced. I spent £6,000 trying to win the immigration case against me but in October I found out I had lost.

‘I could have tried to appeal but I didn’t have any extra money and I had been advised it wouldn’t have done any good.’

Speaking from Dubai, Mr Lorrigan said: ‘I came home from a business trip to find them gone.