Britons to stay in Brazil prison

The women are pictured coming out the Tourist Police office on 27 July

Two British law graduates charged with attempted insurance fraud in Brazil are said to be "anxious and concerned" after they were denied bail.

Shanti Andrews and Rebecca Turner, both 23, are being held in the "tough" Polinter prison, near Rio de Janeiro.

The women claim they were robbed but the police allegedly uncovered some of the items in their Rio hostel room.

Their lawyer said they could be in jail for a month. Miss Andrews' mother said it was a "misunderstanding".

'Overcrowded' conditions

Speaking from Rio, their lawyer Renato Tonini said he was appealing against the judge's decision.

The lawyer said the two women, who were at the end of a nine-month trip around the world, were sleeping on the floor of a cell.

Brazilian police released this picture of the girls in fancy dress

He said: "They are very nervous and very concerned about their situation, and anxious too.

"They are in a tough prison but they are being treated well by both other prisoners and by the administration. They are being treated as if they were Brazilian.

"The general situation of our jails in Brazil is very, very bad, so the jail they are in is overcrowded."

He said there was likely to be a decision on the "merit of the charges" in three or four weeks.

The charge carries a maximum prison sentence of more than three years, according to Mr Tonini, but they could also be fined or made to do unpaid work.

'Mercy' plea

The pair, who both studied at the University of Sussex, told police in Rio that belongings totalling £1,000 had been stolen during a bus journey.

They were arrested on Sunday after officers from a specialist tourist support unit apparently became suspicious that they had waited several days before reporting the robbery.

A subsequent search of their lodgings in the beach district of Copacabana allegedly uncovered some of the items.

On Wednesday the mother of Miss Andrews said it was a "misunderstanding" and asked the Brazilian authorities to show mercy.

Simone Headley, from Frant, near Tunbridge Wells in Kent, said: "The girls had some things stolen and they put a report into the police station," she said.

"There was a misunderstanding - a couple of the items they claimed were then found in their luggage."