A British tourist has been freed after spending 14 months in an Egyptian jail for taking painkillers into the country.
Laura Plummer, 34, was jailed after 290 Tramadol tablets were found in her luggage at the beach resort of Hurghada in October 2017.
She had no idea that the drug – which she had brought for her Egyptian partner Omar Caboo’s back pain – was illegal in Egypt.
She was handed a three-year jail sentence in 2017 but officials said last night she was boarding a plane back to Britain after a successful appeal for early release.
This undated family photo shows Laura Plummer. An Egyptian court convicted her of smuggling hundreds of powerful painkillers into the country, sentencing her to three years in prison. (Family photo via AP)
Miss Plummer was one of 6,925 prisoners granted early release by president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on January 25 – the anniversary of the nation’s 2011 revolution – said her lawyer, Mohammed Osman. She became eligible once a third of her sentence had elapsed. Miss Plummer said the ordeal had put her off travelling abroad, vowing never to go in an airport once she had returned home.
‘My two-week holiday in the sun turned into a nightmare,’ she said. ‘I’m so happy to be going home. I mean, who goes on holiday for two weeks and then stays 14 months?
‘I promise you, I’ll never set foot in an airport again.’ Following her release Miss Plummer was transferred to police custody in Hurghada, where she awaited her flight back to Britain with her mother and sister.
Her sister, Rachel, who regularly travelled to Egypt to visit Miss Plummer in prison, said she will never forget the shock of the first time she saw her in a Cairo jail, but added: ‘Obviously as time’s gone on she’s got used to it. She’s made some really good friends in there; she was well looked after.’
She would only be able to spend a few moments with Mr Caboo before she was put on a plane, her mother Roberta told The Sun, adding: ‘He’s really upset. Their love has survived this awful ordeal. We’re excited to get Laura home but devastated for Omar.’
Tramadol, a prescription-only painkiller in the UK, is banned in Egypt because of its potential as a heroin substitute. Miss Plummer told police the pills were for Mr Caboo, who has back pain following a car crash. She had made no attempt to conceal the tablets.
Smuggling charges were dropped but she was prosecuted for possession. She appeared in court on Christmas Day 2017.
© Daily Mail