A Muslim woman detained by officials at Glasgow Airport suffered a miscarriage in an immigration cell, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

Marina Miraj, a Canadian Afghan, collapsed in the airport detention room last month after being questioned for hours by immigration staff.

The woman, who is in her 30s and was three months pregnant, was rushed to Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital after being found by airport officials on the cell floor.

Miraj had flown into the UK from Toronto to make plans to settle in Glasgow with her husband. She claims the stress of the interrogation and detention contributed to the miscarriage and is now considering legal action.

She described the ordeal as: “the worst experience of my life.” She added: “I will never be able to forget how I lost my baby in a police cell.”

Senior Scottish Muslims last night said it was the latest in a wave of incidents where Afgh-ans had been questioned “like terrorists” at Glasgow Airport.

Haq Ghani, of the Islamic Society of Britain, described the incidents as “detestable”. “This kind of treatment is the way to create terrorism, not the way to fight it,” he said.

A spokesman for the Home Office said immigration officers treated all passengers with respect, regardless of their ethnic background.

Liam McDougall in the Sunday Herald, 13 March 2005