Bail bid by 'fraud' Britons held in filthy Brazil prison

Jailed: Shanti Andrews and Rebecca Turner
12 April 2012

Two British law graduates behind bars in Brazil over an alleged holiday insurance fraud will be told today if they are to be released on bail.

A judge will rule on whether to free the girls from the filthy, overcrowded prison they have been held in since Sunday.

Shanti Andrews and her friend Rebecca Turner, both 23, have been sleeping on a corridor floor in the jail packed with murderers and drug-traffickers.

They were arrested after telling police they had been robbed of more than £1,000 of goods during a bus trip.

Suspicious police went to their hostel and discovered some of the items under their beds.

The women's lawyer Renato Tonini said: "We have applied for bail and the judge has said he will give a decision today.

"They are very nervous and upset. They are sleeping in the corridor because the prison is overcrowded, with no mattresses."

Meanwhile, prosecutors are expected to announce today what charges the pair will face.

If convicted of insurance fraud, they will face between one and five years in prison.

But their lawyer hopes for the lesser charge of making a false claim, which is punishable by up to six months in jail or a fine.

"We will argue that they cannot be convicted of insurance fraud as they never made a claim with the insurance company," Mr Tonini said.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in