Briton ‘held in Egypt jail over painkillers’

A BRITISH woman has been detained in Egypt after flying into the country with painkillers for her husband’s sore back, according to reports.

Laura Plummer, 33, from Hull, was arrested when she was found to have tramadol and naproxen in her suitcase. She is said to have signed a statement in Arabic which she thought would enable her to leave the airport, but she has been held in a 15ft by 15ft cell with 25 other women for nearly a month.

Her brother James Plummer, 31, said the family has been told she could face up to 25 years in jail, with one lawyer even mentioning the death penalty. He said his sister had been arrested for what he thinks the authorities in Egypt call “drug trafficking”, but said she had only brought medication for her Egyptian husband who she visits two to four times a year.

The Foreign Office said: “We are supporting a British woman and her family following her detention in Egypt.”