The sister of a British woman facing jail in Dubai after she called her ex-husband's new wife a "horse" has apologised on her behalf.

Laleh Shahravesh and her 14-year-old daughter Paris, who live in Richmond, southwest London, were both arrested at the city's airport last month.

She had flown to the United Arab Emirates to pay respects to her former husband - Paris's father - after he died of a heart attack.

Ms Shahravesh, 55, is due in court on Thursday accused of breaking Dubai's cyber crime laws - and if found guilty, she could face two years in prison and a £50,000 fine.

While living in London in 2016, Ms Shahravesh saw photographs on Facebook that revealed her ex-husband had remarried a Tunisian woman named Samah al Hammadi in Dubai.


Image: Laleh Sharavesh and her daughter Paris. Pic: Detained In Dubai

Ms Shahravesh said she was upset. In Farsi, she wrote on Facebook: "I hope you go under the ground you idiot. Damn you. You left me for this horse."

In an interview with Sky News, Paris said: "Every day it only seems to get harder, my mum is like my rock. She is everything that I have, especially because I don't have my dad anymore."

Her aunt Ledan Perry, who is taking care of her, said the ordeal has "destroyed" Ms Shahravesh.

She said: "There's no need for this. We can sit down and we can talk.

"I apologise, I plead, I apologise for my sister's actions.

"Let's talk, let's drop the case, let Paris be reunited with her mum."

Image: Paris says authorities could do more to bring her mum home. Pic: Detained In Dubai

Paris, who has been crying herself to sleep every night, said authorities are doing "nothing" to bring her mother home.

In a message to Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, the teenager said: "I think you should try a little harder."

Paris said she had not spoken to her father for a year and was visiting Dubai because she "wanted to say goodbye".

She added: "We went to Dubai and it wasn't even for his funeral, we weren't allowed to go.

"But I wanted to say goodbye because it felt so incredibly unreal and I really needed that closure."

Image: Laleh Shahravesh says she and her daughter Paris are very close. Pic: Detained In Dubai

It recently emerged that Ms Shahravesh's former husband, Pedro Correia Dos Santos, had reported her to British police for alleged harassment nearly four years ago.

A police statement said: "In October 2015, police were contacted by a 48-year-old man living in Dubai concerning claims of harassment against a 52-year-old woman living in London, who was known to him."

Since her mother's arrest, Paris has written to Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, begging to let her return home.

"I have not seen my mother in 23 days, and with every passing day, I feel less hopeful of her return," she wrote in the letter published by Detained in Dubai.

"I ask kindly: please, please return my mother's passport, and let her come home."

Paris, who is struggling to focus on upcoming exams, said the incident has "infected all of my life".

Overcome with emotion, she continued: "It's as if my feelings of sadness fill me completely. I don't know how I have managed a month without her.

"I really hope it ends. I would do anything to see her again."