Snub to UK as Egypt spirits Briton off to hell-hole jail
‘Nobody can intervene’ ‘My dad always warned her’
THE Briton jailed for taking painkillers into Egypt was whisked off in the dead of night to a prison for terrorists despite repeated appeals from British officials.
The Foreign Office is trying to get Laura Plummer, 33, out of the notorious Qena prison, where Islamic State jihadists share swelteringly hot cells with murderers and rapists.
Her family said diplomats immediately requested a move to a more comfortable facility in Cairo after her three-year sentence was imposed on Boxing Day.
However, they claim this was ignored by Egyptian officials, and Miss Plummer was instead bundled into a van in the early hours of yesterday and driven 140 miles to Qena on the bank of the Nile.
The decision is likely to cause embarrassment to the Foreign Office as it is understood British officials have made repeated overtures to the Egyptian authorities over the case. Britain’s Honorary Consul has visited Miss Plummer nine times since she was arrested, most recently on December 14.
Last month he also held meetings with both the Egyptian foreign minister and the Egyptian ministry for foreign affairs.
Yesterday her sister Jayne Synclair, 40, accused Cairo of using ‘underhand’ tactics to defy the Foreign Office, which admits it has no choice but to respect Egyptian laws and customs.
Miss Plummer’s other sister, Rachel, 31, told the Daily Mail: ‘The Foreign Office have been in touch and kept us updated, but I have understood from day one they couldn’t do anything. Nobody can intervene with the Egyptian judiciary.
‘They put in a request to get her moved to Cairo as this would make visits a lot easier.
‘I wish there was something the Foreign Office could do, but I know there isn’t. I just want them to help bring her home.’
Miss Plummer, from Hull, was arrested after 290 Tramadol tablets were found in her suitcase. She claimed they were for her Egyptian boyfriend, Omar Caboo, who has severe back pain after a car accident two years ago. The drug is banned in Egypt. Labour’s Chris Bryant MP, a member of the foreign affairs select committee, warned the case risked becoming a diplomatic row.
He said: ‘Ministers are caught in a double bind. If they over-state the case, it could play into the hands of foreign countries who don’t want to be very helpful to Britain at all.
‘I’m sure Alistair Burt [Foreign Office minister of state] and other ministers will be looking closely at what can be done. They will be reviewing the situation every day of the week.’
Miss Plummer was sentenced to three years in jail on Boxing Day. She had been due to spend a week in a holding cell in the Red Sea town of Safaga.
But when her mother turned up to visit her the next morning with a bundle of fresh clothes and food she was told her daughter had been taken to the Qena prison.
Rachel Plummer described the facility as ‘the bad one’, while her other sister, Jayne said: ‘I honestly dread to think. Laura won’t survive a day in there, let alone three years...I can’t believe they’ve even still sent her there.’
She added: ‘I’ve seen pictures and if you kept a dog in there and the RSPCA saw it, you would lose your dog. It’s honestly that bad.’
Miss Plummer’s family said she is already on the verge of a nervous breakdown and has contemplated suicide. Her skin has been rendered pale due to lack of sunlight during her three months in Hurghada women’s prison, and her muscles have wasted away.
Miss Plummer’s solicitor Mohamed Othman is mounting an appeal to the sentence, but that could take months to go through Egypt’s complex legal system.
Miss Plummer met Mr Caboo, a hotel activity manager, four years ago when she was visiting the Red Sea resort of Hurghada. Two years ago they had an Orfi marriage, an Egyptian practice. Orfi ceremonies take ten minutes in front of a lawyer and two witnesses.
The documents meant they could sleep together in an apartment during her visits, and has led to reports suggesting he is her legal husband. However, at the time, Omar was married to another woman with whom he has two children, and Miss Plummer’s sisters have suggested the marriage means nothing. Rachel said: ‘She would visit Omar every time she got a two-week holiday from work. She only gets six weeks holiday a year so that would mean she went out three times a year.
‘She would come home and have the holiday blues because she just wanted to be back there
‘And after all this I know Laura would still go back out there to see Omar...it’s sad because she loved Egypt my dad always warned her about going there, but she never listened.’
Mr Caboo has reportedly stood by Miss Plummer during her ordeal and has been staying with her mother Roberta Synclair while she is in Egypt.
He has been taking supplies to Miss Plummer in prison when the family are in the UK.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: ‘We are continuing 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.’