Afternoon:
9°c
WORLD: Jailed pregnant Briton Samantha Orobator returns to UK
Ben Bailey7 Aug 2009
A pregnant British woman jailed in Laos for trafficking heroin arrived back in the UK today.
Samantha Orobator was flown into London's Heathrow Airport from the capital Vientiane just before seven o'clock today.
Orobator, 20, from south London, was given a life sentence after admitting drug smuggling.
She would have faced the death penalty had she not been pregnant.
Orobator, who had been permitted to serve the rest of her sentence in the UK, was met by a waiting prison van as she got off the morning flight.
Wearing a white beanie and loose trousers, she laughed as she stepped on to the tarmac, along with three travel companions.
Uniformed police stood by as she was led into the van taking her to Holloway prison.
Her return to the UK comes in time for the birth of her child which is due next month.
Yesterday Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant said of her imminent return: "This is excellent news.
"Of course, we do not condone any crimes involving illegal drugs. We work around the world to combat the use of illegal drugs.
"I spend much of my time warning British tourists of the dangers of using drugs in countries such as Laos, which have heavy penalties for these crimes. Samantha will serve her term in a British penal establishment.
"But I saw for myself Samantha's advanced state of pregnancy when I visited her in prison last week.
"The transfer means that Samantha will give birth in the UK, close to her relatives and under UK medical care. This is clearly the best outcome for all - not least her unborn child."
Ahead of her return, her mother, Jane Orobator, said: "I just want her to come back to the UK, that is my first desire. One step at a time, I just want her to have her baby here."
Laos foreign ministry spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing said Orobator's return was a humanitarian gesture which took her pregnancy into account.
He added: "To my understanding, she is fine. The doctor keeps an eye on her. Both the officials from the UK and from Laos have taken care of her, particularly her health."
Clive Stafford-Smith, director of Reprieve, said she should be allowed access to independent lawyers on her return.
A spokesman for the charity Reprieve said Orobator, who travelled with a midwife and representatives from the Ministry of Justice, would be undergoing health checks when she arrived at Holloway.
She was meeting her lawyers at about 8am to discuss her case.
Her mother was flying into London from Dublin in the hope of seeing her daughter.
Orobator was jailed last August after she was caught with 1.5lb (680g) of heroin at Vientiane airport on her way to Australia. She admitted drug smuggling.
Katherine O'Shea, of Reprieve, said: "When she arrives at Holloway she will have some health checks and then hopefully her family will be able to see her.
"Her mother really hopes she will be able to see her but at the moment she does not know if that's going to be possible - we will have to wait and see."
Reader views (35)
This scumbag is a major criminal caught smuggling hard drugs and the media in search of a sob-story is making a hero out of her! It is clear from her demeanour that has has no regrets over her crime at all and is well aware she has fooled the british authorities into giving her her wishes. Why should she serve her 'sentence' in the UK?? She will be out soon and selling her lies as a hard-luck story to the newspapers! No doubt some murderer's friend or terrorist-hugging human rights lawyer will sooon be spouting her cause on the BBC. Maybe they'll be a film about her too! What an awful country the UK has become!! And what awful people live here now!!
- Evan, london UK, 10/08/2009 09:44
Report abuse
She is NOT British.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 10/08/2009 09:40
Report abuse
Foreign Office Minister says " . . . this is excellent news . . .". What colour is the sky on his planet?
- Excitytec, London, 10/08/2009 09:25
Report abuse
Disgraceful is all I can say. She should have been afforded the same treatment as all drug traffickers. Sad thing is once this baby is born it wont stand a chance - it will be a 'no hoper' who will more than likely turn out like its parent....... What a completely SELFISH thing for this woman to do.
- Barbara, sydney Australia, 09/08/2009 07:11
Report abuse
lets all go drug smuggling
- Steven Woodfordgreen, essex england, 08/08/2009 23:17
Report abuse
One thing we all agree the taxpayers have paid and will pay for her comfort in prison.As the director of Reprieve said,"She(Orobator)should be allowed access to independent lawyers on her return" Just because we have such system in place, there are always people who will exploit it. So don't blame her blame our system.The sooner we get rid of these loopholes the better.The people like Orobator know all the tricks of the trade once they become drug traffickers. Down with Labour
- Surj, london, 08/08/2009 01:18
Report abuse
Stupid British justice.
- Terry Harrs, richmond surrey, 07/08/2009 19:47
Report abuse
For Roz-France. I know how you feel. I am British, my sons were born in Brazil and I have two grandchildren from my eldest son who married a Brit and it was she who passed British nationality to them. My youngest son married an American whose father was Portuguese thus their two daughters have US and Brazilian passports and are entitled to Portuguese citizenship (EU) through their maternal grandfather. British nationality? Forget it!!!! I can prove 6 generations of family in the Royal Navy which obviously means nothing.
- Peter Glazier, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 07/08/2009 19:35
Report abuse
The 'excellent news' is another prisoner costing the british tax payer £25,718 a year. Wonderful news eh Chris Bryant?
Watch out if Gordy Brown hears this - he will invent a new tax to cover it!
- Sally Jones, London, 07/08/2009 18:34
Report abuse
A real hero - when is the OBE for her?
- G, London, UK, 07/08/2009 18:24
Report abuse
Chris Bryant is a great bloke, woo hoo...I FEEL SICK!
- Gary, London, 07/08/2009 17:26
Report abuse
Tough on the causes of crime" said Teflon Tony. Absolute "rubbish" say I.
- Charles, Stanmore. London, 07/08/2009 16:53
Report abuse
This was simply a move engendered by the Labour party to make themselves seem magnanimous and charitable in order to gain votes. Remember to vote for Labour
- Jack, LONDON UK, 07/08/2009 16:32
Report abuse
She knew exactly what she was doing, and deserved everything she had coming to her She should have finished her sentence over there. I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever for her. Yet again, another innocent child is brought into the world by a selfish, cynical "mother", and once again, the decent, British taxpayer is footing the bill. How can this minister call this "Great news"!!!!
- Richard, London, England, 07/08/2009 15:33
Report abuse
So now the British tax payer has to fund a drug smuggler and her child. She got pregnant in prison to save her own selfish skin.
- Adam, London, 07/08/2009 15:14
Report abuse
I think you've all missed a trick: because this woman was born in Nigeria, her child would not be entitled to British Citizenship unless it was born on British soil. Despite being able to document that my family has lived in Britain for the last 1,000 years, my children were born abroad so my grandchildren will not be entitled to British Citizenship unless they happen to born in the UK. As my eldest was not born in France, he is not entitled to French citizenship, and my youngest (who was) will have to live here for 7 years and then he MAY be considered. The same rules even applies to the offspring of all members of the Armed Forces who are born abroad because their family is on a posting there.
Wake up Britain!
- Roz, France, 07/08/2009 15:09
Report abuse
Finally, voices I agree with! I'm sick of hearing misguided sympathies about her 'plight'. People seem to forget she was attempting to transfer 1.5lb of heroin to Australia.
The fact that she used Mr Watson's sperm to create a child JUST to get her off the hook should worry people too. What's she going to tell the child when he/she's older?
- Martin, basingstoke, uk, 07/08/2009 15:02
Report abuse
Its not the 'best outcome for all' as it certainly isn't for her unborn child or us a nation.
- Tr, London, UK, 07/08/2009 14:19
Report abuse
If I wasn't viewing this nonsense on a daily basis, I would never believe it...!
- Andre, london, 07/08/2009 13:51
Report abuse
"Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant said ..."This is excellent news"!
That comment made me feel sick, and shows how completely out of touch this nightmare government is.
- Richard, London, 07/08/2009 13:43
Report abuse
i can't help but imagine the repercussions for the child as they grow up, realising that the principle reason for their existence is, at best, that they were the 'get out of jail free' card for a drugs mule... while it'll make for an incredible documentary in future years, the ongoing disaster that is this woman's life, the goverment's conduct to protect the unborn child and the conflict in me which both despises the bile of the right wingers and the do-gooding of the lefties and leaves me glad that i don't have to unravel the mess this woman has made of her own and her child's life.
- Marino, london, 07/08/2009 13:38
Report abuse
Hope she gets years of pleasure out of her prison tv,playstation,music centre,gym and other human right equipment that we the tax payer folk the bill for.Bring back the prison no one wants to be sent to,and crime will reduce.
- David, london, 07/08/2009 13:36
Report abuse
Wise up, folks, ANYTHING goes in dumpUK.
- Ted, London, 07/08/2009 12:47
Report abuse
She did the crime and the British taxpayer is paying for it. As for her serving the rest of her life sentence in UK, what will that be? After all, life is only about 8 years here! What a joke.
- Ml, London, 07/08/2009 12:32
Report abuse
"Clive Stafford-Smith, director of Reprieve, said she should be allowed access to independent lawyers on her return."
For goodness sake! It's not enough that she has escaped the death penalty and will be serving her sentence in the UK. Now it's independent lawyers. I'm guessing she'll be released from prison very soon.
...and people wonder why crime is out of control.
- Angela, London, 07/08/2009 12:03
Report abuse
Interfering UK do-gooders strike again to decent citizens detrement
The UK government is clearly sending a message that drug trafficking is perfectly acceptable and this Nigerian must be deported back to the place she was imprioned. I certanly do not want to fund her.
- Jerry, London, 07/08/2009 12:02
Report abuse
Why are the press and Reprieve treating her like a returning hero when she is a drug smuggler who ruins lives?
- Tom, Watford (UK), 07/08/2009 11:49
Report abuse
Chris Bryant commented "I spend much of my time warning British tourists of the dangers of using drugs in countries such as Laos, which have heavy penalties for these crimes"...ehh Chris..she wasn't using drugs she was smuggling them..it's a little more serious
As for the comment by Clive Stafford-Smith, director of Reprieve, "she should be allowed access to independent lawyers on her return".... why, she was caught red-handed smuggling heroin through LAOS while on her way to Australia...she was lucky enough to be brough back to the UK, she doesn't deserve anything further.
Funny how there wasn't any help shown by the Nigerian authorities for her release as she is Nigerian by birth. Of course not, why should they when they got a foreign Government willing to repatriate her, make sure she has her baby (unplanned and only conceived purely for her own selfish reasons) here and then expect taxpayers to fund her benefit life once she's been freed. If her mother & friends are so concerned for her they should be funding her repatriation, as she doesn't deserve anything from the UK taxpayer except a one-way ticket somewhere else.
- Alan, East London, 07/08/2009 11:35
Report abuse
"... permitted to serve the rest of her sentence in the U.K." Will that be more than 3 days then?
- Phil Jones, London UK, 07/08/2009 10:12
Report abuse
please tell me that i'm not the only one out there thats feels that this is what i get for paying my tax's....
all these smug people are patting themselves on the back and congratulating themselves FOR WHAT!!!!!!!!
WE REALLY ARE A BUNCH OF MUGS OVER HERE
- Jonny, London, 07/08/2009 10:03
Report abuse
She admitted smuggling drugs!!!! What ever happened to tough on crime - NOT Labour, that's for sure!
- Jk, London, 07/08/2009 09:56
Report abuse
She should be left there to live her life out in a Laos prison and not in a UK one, where she will be given every luxury she could want.
- Gareth, London, 07/08/2009 09:05
Report abuse
A clear and definitive message from this Labour government is that crime pays. Little difference between stealing from the tax payer and mugging somebody in the street. So I suppose we have criminals in power looking after their own.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 07/08/2009 08:58
Report abuse
This is a disgrace. The British taxpayer now has to pick up the bill.
- Mark, South-East London, 07/08/2009 08:24
Report abuse
And we should feel sorry for her?
- Nils Westesson, Lund, Sweden, 07/08/2009 08:10
Report abuse
