Death row Briton saved in Vietnam

Mr Luong was injured during the Vietnam war

The life of a mentally-ill Briton who was on death row in Vietnam has been spared by the country's president.

Le Manh Luong, 68, was due to be executed by firing squad after being found guilty of smuggling heroin in November 2006.

He suffered brain damage in the Vietnam War but was officially granted clemency by President Nguyen Minh Triet.

The former mechanic, who came to London in 1983, had part of his brain sliced off by an American missile.

His family, who live in Kidbrooke, south east London, expressed their joy at his clemency being granted.

Mr Luong's niece, Thanh Le, said: "We are so happy. Now we can go and visit him and he will have the horrific ankle and wrist shackles removed."

Mr Luong arrived in London as one of the Vietnamese "boat people".

Sentence commuted

Representations were made on his behalf to the Vietnamese government by the former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

There was also a petition organised on the Downing Street website, which was signed by more than 1,400 people.

Campaigners claim that Mr Luong asked "What is heroin?" and "What is a weapon?" at his trial.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: "We can confirm that Le Manh Luong, a British national, has had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

"We made a number of representations to the Vietnamese government on behalf of Mr Luong."

A campaign for his life to be spared was also fought by legal charity Reprieve, which petitions for British citizens to be taken off death row in prisons around the world.

Reprieve legal adviser Hayley Ichilcik said: "This is fantastic news. Mr Luong no longer has the shadow of execution hanging over him.

"He will be moved from death row and the shackles which were welded round his wrists and ankles can be removed."