United Kingdom woman jailed for 3 years in Egypt for carrying painkillers

An Egyptian court on Tuesday convicted a British woman of smuggling hundreds of powerful painkillers into the country, sentencing her to three years in prison.

Tramadol, a prescription opiate and painkiller, is banned in Egypt and is used as a recreational drug for its cheap price and relaxing, re-energizing high, as well as its supposed aphrodisiac qualities.

The case revolves around 290 Tramadol she took with her to Egypt for her lover Omar Caboo, 33, who suffers from back pain, but neither he nor Miss Plummer's family accompanied her in court.

The case opened yesterday, Christmas Day, in Safaga, a Red Sea town 300 miles south of Cairo.

Plummer has been detained in Egypt since her arrest in October, though her legal team is now debating whether to appeal the decision. It is understood that... "It's not fair. She wanted to help, he is the kindest person".

"After she was sentenced to three years, she was then put in a cage, like an animal".

Laura Plummer, 33, could face the death sentence if she is found guilty of the charges leveled against her. "Even half of that would be better", the Guardian quoted Laura's sister Rachel as saying. Her lawyers argue the traveler misunderstood a question in court and gave a response that appeared to be a confession.

Her legal team are to put in a bail application that could see Laura freed from the detention centre where she has been since October 9.

Her lawyer Mohamed Othman reportedly said a plane ticket showing she paid twice as much for her flights as the drugs were worth is proof that she was not planning to sell them.

Since October, her family says she has been held in a communal cell with no beds and up to 25 other women.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We will continue to provide assistance to Laura and her family following the court ruling in Egypt, and our embassy is in regular contact with the Egyptian authorities". The young shop assistant might consider herself lucky - earlier she'd been told that she might be facing 25 years in jail or even the death penalty.

"I am hopeful that good sense will eventually prevail", he told the BBC.