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Two British Women Jailed for Life in Emirates for Drug Trafficking
RAS AL-KHAIMAH, May 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - An Eimirati court in Ras Al-Khaimah sentenced two British women on Sunday for life imprisonment for drug trafficking and ordered each to pay a fine of US$ 13,600, news agencies reported.
Anna Bartlett, 24, from Essex, and Anne Kidd, 32, of Leeds, were among five Britons and an Australian woman, who were arrested in Dubai last October and November after a Lebanese drug smuggler, who was tried in the same case and received a four-year jail term, was caught in a sting and implicated them.
Bartlett went into custody after she was arrested six months ago carrying two cocaine capsules in her body, which she was afterwards caught passing on to Kidd, the court heard.
Lawyers said they would appeal the judgment and have 15 days to do so.
All six, including, Stacy Simpson, 28, from Leeds, Catherine Jenkins, a 30-year-old Emirates air stewardess from Wales, and Australian Heidi Dabour, 24, are to face another trial in Dubai where they were allegedly found with drugs in their possession.
In Ras Al-Khaimah, Simpson faced charges of use and trafficking, Jenkins of possession with intent to supply and Dabour with possession and use of illegal drugs.
On sentencing, Kidd broke down in tears and Bartlett was seen shocked. Bartlett admitted smuggling drugs into the country, but denied having any intention to sell or use them. She, however, said they belonged to Simpson, who was arrested at the same time. At the same time, Simpson his girlfriend Kidd still denied all charges against them, BBC reported.
The trial shocked and captivated the large British Refugee community near Dubai, BBC added.
Moreover, the court found they had no case to answer in the Emirate and transferred them to neighbouring Dubai.
According to the police, the group smuggled around 500 grams (one pound) of cocaine and small quantities of hashish into the United Arab Emirates using the "swallow and regurgitate" method.
Gulf countries, including the Emirates, deal seriously with drug possession even if it is in small quantities. Under a 1995 law, drug traffickers in the Emirates face the death penalty, but no executions on drug trafficking charges are know n to have taken place.
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