Laura Plummer latest: Brit jailed in Egypt over painkillers says 'Don't ever call me a drug dealer'

Olivia Tobin30 January 2019

A British woman jailed for travelling with painkillers in Egypt today said: "Don't ever call me a drug dealer."

In her first TV interview since arriving back in the UK after being freed from jail, 34-year-old Laura Plummer described her "15-month trip to Hell".

She was appearing on Good Morning Britain having recently been released after a 14-month term jail sentence in Cairo prison for taking 290 Tramadol tablets into the country for her partner.

Ms Plummer, from Hull, arrived back in the UK on Tuesday in floods of tears, after she was sentenced to three years in jail on Boxing Day in 2018.

She was later granted early release.

Laura Plummer, centre, arrives at Heathrow airport after being released from prison
PA

Revealing what conditions she had to face in prison, Ms Plummer said the ordeal was “horrendous”.

She claimed while imprisoned she saw two women get “tortured with sticks” and conditions were extremely cramped.

She said: “The prison was horrendous. They made you wear a white long dresses [and there was] 200 women in one area, with 84 beds.

“If you do the maths, you realise everybody was all over the floor, all over the toilet.”

The 34-year-old appeared on the breakfast show on Wednesday morning
Good Morning Britain

Ms Plummer added she did not see violent scenes in Cairo, but did witness some in Hurghada.

She added: “It was horrendous, fighting every single night. I witnessed the most horrendous things I never thought I’d see in my life.”

Morgan probed Ms Plummer about the crime and asked: “You were facing years in prison, what did you feel? You weren’t innocent in the sense that you did take the pills in the country”.

Ms Plummer replied: “Piers, because I knew I was innocent, I was quietly confident I’d never [serve] 25 years.

“I was innocent, as in the whole smuggling thing, because don’t ever call me a drug dealer, do you know what I mean? Please don’t ever call me a drug dealer, how dare you call me a drug dealer?

Laura Plummer with her partner Omar
Facebook

“I was so conscious about clearing my name for that, I never thought for one minute I’d get possession [charge], I never because I had so much evidence in court.”

Ms Plummer was greeted at Heathrow Airport by her sisters and told reporters she never thought the experience would end.

She described the reunion as the happiest day of their lives.

Her local MP, Karl Turner said: “It was a terrible experience for Laura. She did not know what she was doing was illegal but she made a mistake and paid the price.”

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