This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/8080968.stm
The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
Pregnant Briton sentenced to life | Pregnant Briton sentenced to life |
(40 minutes later) | |
A pregnant British woman accused of smuggling heroin has been found guilty in Laos and sentenced to life in jail. | A pregnant British woman accused of smuggling heroin has been found guilty in Laos and sentenced to life in jail. |
Samantha Orobator, 20, from south London, was caught with 1.5lb (680g) of the drug at Wattay airport in the capital, Vientiane, last August. | Samantha Orobator, 20, from south London, was caught with 1.5lb (680g) of the drug at Wattay airport in the capital, Vientiane, last August. |
Her trial had been delayed while Laotian officials tried to find out how she became pregnant in prison. | Her trial had been delayed while Laotian officials tried to find out how she became pregnant in prison. |
She would have faced a mandatory death sentence, but the execution of pregnant prisoners is not allowed in Laos. | She would have faced a mandatory death sentence, but the execution of pregnant prisoners is not allowed in Laos. |
Pregnant in prison | |
The UK has recently signed a prisoner transfer agreement with Laos, which means Orobator could serve any potential sentence in a British jail. | |
A Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spokesman said officials would soon be in touch with her to discuss what she wants to do next. | |
The spokesman told the BBC: "We will be discussing with Samantha if she wants to apply for a transfer. There is a prisoner transfer agreement; it will be up to her." | |
We really want her home by 6 June. That is the first day of her third trimester and she needs to travel before then Reprieve | |
He said he was unable to say whether Orobator would be transferred back to the UK before the start of the third trimester of her pregnancy on 6 June - as has been called for by British human rights charity Reprieve. | |
Orobator has been held for nine months in Phongthong prison, where she reportedly became pregnant in December. | |
Reprieve has called for her to be returned to the UK before the final stages of her pregnancy. | |
A spokeswoman said before the trial: "We really want her home by 6 June. That is the first day of her third trimester and she needs to travel before then. | A spokeswoman said before the trial: "We really want her home by 6 June. That is the first day of her third trimester and she needs to travel before then. |
"Whether she is acquitted, pardoned or tried and convicted and serves her sentence in this country, she needs to be out of that prison by then." | "Whether she is acquitted, pardoned or tried and convicted and serves her sentence in this country, she needs to be out of that prison by then." |