Tori Towey ‘in flight’ to Ireland after charges dropped in Dubai

Tori Towey is due to return home to Ireland this afternoon after Dubai authorities dropped charges against her on Wednesday.

Family members were on Thursday morning travelling to Dublin Airport to welcome Ms Towey home.

The 28-year-old from Roscommon was charged with attempted suicide and illegally consuming alcohol in the United Arab Emirates city, after suffering sustained domestic violence and abuse since marrying her husband in March, the Dáil heard this week.

Radha Stirling, chief executive of Detained in Dubai which has been providing support to Ms Towey and her family said she spoke to her “in flight”.

“She is super excited to be arriving home,” she said in an update on X, formerly Twitter.

Ms Stirling said Ms Towey will not be immediately speaking publicly and will need to “rest and recover” once home.

[ Behind the luxury image, Dubai’s laws and customs create issues for expatriatesOpens in new window ]

Prior to a flight being organised, Ms Stirling said Ms Towey and her mother Caroline were “still nervous that anything could happen” adding that they “won’t feel safe until she’s on the plane.”

It is understood Ms Towey was awaiting instructions from the embassy late on Wednesday evening concerning her return to Ireland, though her family was not expecting her to be able to leave until Thursday at the earliest.

Ms Stirling said Ms Towey and her family are “absolutely elated” that the charges have been dropped and travel ban lifted, though she had been “anxiously awaiting” a flight out of Dubai since then.

The Irish Embassy was to escort Ms Towey and her mother Caroline to the airport and were running final checks to ensure “no last-minute hiccups” prior to their departure from Dubai, Ms Stirling said on Thursday morning.

In an update on X, formerly Twitter, Claire Kerrane, Sinn Féin TD for Roscommon-Galway said she spoke to Ms Towey on Thursday morning.

“She wants to get home to County Roscommon and rest,” she said before asking for privacy for Ms Towey, saying she will “speak when she is ready to.”

Ms Stirling who previously praised the Government’s swift response to the case said Dubai authorities promptly dropped the charges of attempted suicide after “the Government and the Irish people collectively supported Tori Towey”.

Speaking to RTÉ News after the charges were dropped, Taoiseach Simon Harris said he was “extremely frustrated that an Irish citizen found themselves in this position.

“We talk about zero tolerance in this country towards any sort of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and I want to be clear to countries right around the world [that] we extend that zero tolerance to any of our citizens no matter where they are based in this world,” he said on Wednesday evening.