• Truck driver's held in foreign jails and denied proper
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justice have been thrown a lifeline by the Foreign Office (F0).
Until now the FO has only intervened on humanitarian grounds such as ill health. But in the House of Commons last week, Baroness Scotland announced support for clemency pleas as a last resort if there is evidence of "a denial or miscarriage ofjustice".
Some of the highest profile cases of imprisoned drivers could be in line for official Government support, says the Fair Trials Abroad Trust. Fair Trials director Stephen Jakobi has hailed the announcement as a breakthrough: he says high profile prisoners such as Essex driver Steve Bryant could benefit. Bryant is now serving his eighth year in a Moroccan jail on drug smuggling charges.
But Jakobi warns: "I'm not pretending many people will get help. It will apply to a few cases but it's a wholly exceptional measure." He plans to raise several cases with ministers later this month.
NI The appeal of driver David Benney is due to be heard this week. Benney was fined 1500,000 and remanded in Dunkirk prison for more than a year despite being cleared of trafficking drugs (CM 21 Dec 2000-3 Jan 2001).