Briton could face death penalty after drugs trial

A BRITISH woman being held in Egypt on drug smuggling charges could face the death penalty.

Laura Plummer, 33, had hoped to be freed after her husband supplied her lawyer with medical evidence that 300 Tramadol painkillers found in her suitcase were to ease his back pain.

But yesterday a custody hearing was cancelled and the shop worker from Hull was referred to a criminal court for trial. If found guilty she could be sentenced to death or jailed for up to seven years.

Ms Plummer was arrested at Hurghada airport last month after customs officers found the tablets in her suitcase. She said she had ‘no idea’ the painkillers were banned and had been bringing them into the country for her Egyptian husband, Omar Caboo.

Ms Plummer, who may have to wait months before going before a judge, told the BBC she was having to share a cell with 25 other women.

Her family have flown out to Egypt and her mother Roberta Synclair said she was in ‘very bad spirits’.