Briton begins drugs charge appeal

Nick Baker was fined when he was convicted

A Gloucestershire man jailed in Japan for drug offences he says he did not commit has begun his appeal.

Nick Baker, 33, from Stroud, says he was tricked by a travelling companion after ecstasy tablets and cocaine were found at Narita Airport.

Lawyers representing Baker, who was fined more than £25,000 and jailed for 14 years last June, opened their appeal at Tokyo's high court on Tuesday.

They say Baker's companion is facing trial for alleged drug-smuggling.

A website established to support Baker said an interpreter read through the defence argument for 45 minutes.

Then the judge instructed her to stop as time had run out. The next session was set for 11 May.

In January, Baker's mother, 54-year-old Iris Baker, who lives in Wiltshire, said her son was coping as best he could in a Japanese prison.

She said: "He's struggling because he would obviously like to be home and it's also very cold in Japan.

"He doesn't get to speak to family and he can only write letters, one a day."