An Egyptian court sentenced a British woman to three years in prison on Tuesday for smuggling around 300 painkiller tablets into the country, in a ruling her defence team said she would appeal to have overturned or commuted. Laura Plummer, a 33-year-old shop worker from Hull, was arrested in October after the Tramadol tablets were found in her suitcase. Her family told British newspapers she bought the tablets for her Egyptian partner living in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.
Plummer attended a hearing in her case on Monday, before Tuesday's sentencing. The court also ruled that she must pay a fine of 100,000 Egyptian pounds ($5,600). Tramadol is a legal, prescription medicine in Britain, but it is banned in Egypt. Plummer was arrested on arrival from Britain in October, and her detention was extended twice prior to her court appearance.
Plummer's family said on Tuesday they were disgusted by the way the trial had been conducted. "From day one, this has been a complete nightmare. Yesterday in the court she wasn't even allowed her own interpreter. She had to get the court's interpreter who was interpreting the wrong answers," her sister Jayne Synclair said, speaking on BBC television.
The family said Plummer had also been forced to sign Arabic-language documents which she did not understand. "She's on the verge of a mental breakdown ... It's just horrendous," her sister said.
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