Pardoned Britons return home

Paul Humble is embraced at Heathrow Airport

Five Britons serving prison sentences in Morocco have arrived back in the UK after receiving royal pardons.

They were among nearly 10,000 prisoners released to mark the birth of King Mohammed VI's son.

But a sixth man jailed on "suspect" drugs charges in the north African country has missed out on the mass pardon.

Paul Smith was moved from a Morocco jail back to the UK in February on compassionate grounds - which has meant he could not be pardoned by the King.

Smith, 38, from Blackpool, was moved a month after he began a hunger strike over "injustice and prison conditions" in Morocco.

Five years of my life have gone down the toilet and I'm not going to let it drop

Paul Humble

Two of the released men, Paul Humble and Gregory Saxby, both from Eastbourne, arrived at Heathrow Airport on Saturday afternoon.

One of the five released, Steve Bryant, a lorry driver from east London, was believed to be making his own way home.

Humble spoke of his relief at being home after more than five years in a jail he described as a "hell-hole".

"If you get Kiss of the Spider Woman , Midnight Express and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, that was what it was like," he said.

'Torture'

He told how he shared his seven metres by five-and-a-half metres cell with 24 other prisoners and how some fellow inmates were tortured.

Now Humble has vowed to fight to clear his name

"Five years of my life have gone down the toilet and I'm not going to let it drop," he said.

But first he said he was looking forward to seeing his family and friends.

He and Saxby were jailed in 1998 after cannabis was found in a boat which they were delivering to Malta from Morocco.

Saxby was met by his daughter at the airport and did not speak to reporters.

The organisation Fair Trials Abroad (FTA) had called for the men's release after they were jailed on drugs offences in separate cases, each for 10 years.

'Suspect' convictions

FTA director Stephen Jakobi said the men's convictions were "suspect to say the least".

"They most certainly did not receive fair trials."

Smith was jailed after a large quantity of cannabis was found sealed in the hull of the boat on which he was working in 1996.

Bryant, 48, from Waltham Forest, was jailed in 1993 when cannabis was found in the cargo of his lorry.

The father-of-four, had always protested his innocence, a claim supported by FTA.

Mr Jakobi said: "Steve Bryant is the oldest case that we have in Fair Trials Abroad. We've been battling for him for something like eight years."

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said officials were trying to find out the position on Smith's case and what his future might be.

She confirmed four Britons had had been released from Rebat and one from Tangier.