Third drugs trial risk for stewardess

A Welsh air stewardess who has been twice acquitted of drugs charges in the United Arab Emirates is to learn if she must face a third trial.

Katherine Jenkins, 31, from Neath, was cleared last month of possessing cocaine at the end of a protracted case in Dubai which was criticised for its many delays.

Ms Jenkins was held in custody for 17 months

But the Gulf state's legal system allows the lawyers who failed to prove their case the first time round to bid for a second chance.

She was acquitted of the cocaine charges - which she consistently denied - under Islamic or Sharia law in 2000 but was held for a year-and-a-half for a second, civil, case.

The prosecution appeal from that trial was adjourned for a hearing on Sunday 21 April to give Ms Jenkins's defence lawyer time to prepare her case.

It is thought unlikely that the original police witnesses in the trial will be recalled, leaving three trial judges to review the evidence.

Their final decision on the appeal is likely within a fortnight and although Ms Jenkins is not in prison, her passport has been retained by the Dubai Public Prosecution Department.

The court in Dubai where the trial was held

Stephen Jakobi, of Fair Trials Abroad, who has been watching the case closely said the delay will be disappointing for the Welsh woman.

"This is a formality that has to be worked through. The sad thing is that it is taking time and Katherine is unable to come home," he said.

Ms Jenkins, who missed the death of her father back in Wales during her 17 months in detention, had always denied the charges.

The former Emirates Airline stewardess was released on 31 March after being cleared of any involvement in a drug-smuggling gang.

She had been held since October 2000 when police investigating a drug-smuggling gang found 50g of cocaine in her apartment in Dubai.

Humanitarian grounds

She had always denied the possession allegation, claiming she found the cocaine in her apartment and hid it, believing it to belong to a co-defendant in her lengthy trial.

Her local MP and Europe Minister Peter Hain had taken up her case while she was held in custody - he wrote to Dubai's leader Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid, urging him to free Ms Jenkins on humanitarian grounds.

Her latest trial under civil law began in Dubai in December but was subject to a number of delays - with one policeman on holiday when he was due to give evidence - before it finally closed last month.

Neath MP Peter Hain has supported the stewardess

Two British men facing drugs charges in the same trial were found guilty and sentenced to four years in jail.

During Ms Jenkins' long detention, her family in Wales suffered another tragedy.

In February this year an inquest in Neath recorded a verdict of misadventure on Ms Jenkins' father who died of a heart attack after taking an overdose of aspirin last November.

Steelworker Vivian Jenkins, 53, had been deeply affected by the death of three colleagues in an unprecedented explosion at number five blast furnace at the Corus plant in Port Talbot.

The coroner also decided Mr Jenkins' daughter's detention had played a part in the steelworker's death.