Hearing for wife on Egyptian drug charge

THE FAMILY of a Hull woman who is accused of smuggling drugs is expected to face a preliminary criminal court hearing in Egypt this week, their local MP said.

Laura Plummer, 33, has already been in custody for more than a month after 290 tablets of opiate Tramadol were found in her luggage at Hurghada airport on the Red Sea coast.

The painkillers, which are legal in the UK but not in Egypt, were for her Egyptian partner, Omar Caboo, who has a bad back.

Initial court hearings scheduled for the weekend in Hurghada were postponed and Ms Plummer was due to be moved to Safaga, 70km away, according to MP Karl Turner, who said: “The reason it’s been committed to court in Safaga is because a senior prosecutor decided the matter needs to be dealt with by this particular criminal court.

“I’ve been told by members of the family, that there is a hearing on Tuesday.”

The MP said her welfare was being taken care of while she was in custody but that she was “not very well at all”.

He said Mr Caboo had come forward with evidence to prove he has a bad back and that Ms Plummer was bringing the medication to Egypt for him.

Mr Turner said: “She’s naive and wouldn’t know Tramadol from Panadol. She is a 33-year-old from Hull of good character with no previous convictions up to now, nothing so much as a parking ticket.”

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said its officials were “supporting a British woman and her family following her detention in Egypt”.