Mum stuck in Turkey after what she did in hotel bathroom
Georgia Harrison had been drunkenly celebrating her boyfriend getting his new veneers
A mum has been stuck in Turkey for weeks after making the "worst mistake of her life" while drunk in a hotel room with her boyfriend. Georgia Harrison, 32, was arrested alongside her partner after trying to leave the Lexia Hotel in Antalya on May 7.
The pair had spent the night celebrating her boyfriend getting his new veneers as part of the trip when she says she blacked out and smashed the glass bathroom screen. After leaving the hotel without declaring the damage, she then claims her taxi was chased down and blocked in before police were called, where she was thrown in a Turkish cell and held there for several days with "hundreds of men."
Georgia, from Rochdale, claims the couple were then hauled into court before a judge and banned from leaving the country until the hotel was paid back the sum of £15,000 - money which she says she cannot afford, reports M.E.N.
She said the embassy suggested instructing a lawyer who has tried to mediate and get the ban lifted, including by offering to pay £3,000 in damages, but six weeks later, she is still stuck in the country and unable to come home to her 12-year-old daughter. Her partner is also on a travel ban.
She said: "I got drunk and I have somehow smashed the shower screen of the hotel room and damaged the room. [It was the] worst mistake of my life. Anyway it's done, I can't change it but wow am I paying for it.
"I have sat here for six weeks and suffered in silence not wanting the world to know my business, but it's getting too much and I am getting nowhere. 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'm sorry I was scared and I just tried to get away from it by trying to leave. Yes it was the wrong thing to do, but I was scared and not thinking straight. Maybe if I didn’t, I would be in this mess. I know only I am to blame and my actions are the reason I cannot see my daughter."
Over the last seven weeks, Georgia claims she has appeared in court and unknowingly signed an agreement to pay back £15,000 in damages, was originally denied a solicitor, and has also been unable to access her vital medication, which she only had a five-day supply of for her original trip.
Despite attempts at mediation with legal representatives overseas, she says the travel ban has still not been lifted. With the fine looming over her, she has since tried to flee the country via plane, a ferry and a day trip to Greece.
Georgia continued: "I don't deserve this. I've sat in silence. Seven weeks today I've been here and waited and prayed. I feel nothing is moving and nothing is working.
"Spent nearly all of what my family got together being here, then trying to leave, it's all too much. It's the fact I can't help her [my daughter] or tell her when I will be home, and she is crying to me and telling me she misses me.
"I have three sisters there so they are keeping her busy and I know she's safe and well, but I am her mum and I should be able to provide for her and love her like I always have. I've never been without her, the five day trip was going to be the longest ever."
In a public post online, Georgia added: "I have no idea who is trustworthy and who is in on this. 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.
"The problem is I’m loosing hope of ever getting home to my baby girl and everything the lawyer has promised is all failing. I feel I have no way out. I don't understand how such a stupid mistake has led me here."
A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise funds for Georgia to pay the fine and support her with costs while staying in Turkey. Donations can be made here.