Laos drug Briton 'forced to smuggle heroin by rape'

Orobator's barrister says her continued detention in Britain is "unlawful"

A UK woman jailed for smuggling heroin in Laos was forced to carry the drugs after being raped, say her lawyers.

Samantha Orobator, 20, of London, spent a year in a Lao jail before returning to the UK to serve her life sentence.

Papers given to the High Court, arguing for her release, say she was raped and impregnated by a Nigerian man.

She miscarried during "mistreatment" by Lao officials, they said, but later became pregnant again in jail and has since given birth in Holloway prison.

Orobator was spared the death penalty in Laos because she was pregnant.

'Seriously mistreated'

The Nigerian man, named as Mr Bobby, arranged for her to be sent to Thailand and then Laos "on the pretext of there being an opportunity for her in the fashion business", said Orobator's lawyers.

The documents say she then "fell into the hands" of two associates of Mr Bobby who coerced her into carrying drugs.

It is alleged the men threatened to kill her and repeatedly raped her.

Orobator - of Peckham in south London - was arrested at Wattay International Airport, Laos, in August 2008.

Her lawyers claim she was "seriously mistreated" by the Lao authorities.

Uniformed officers allowed her to be photographed by more than 20 men, one of whom pushed her to the ground, causing her to miscarry, they said.

'Separated from baby'

While in prison Orobator became pregnant again by what the documents describe as "clandestine artificial insemination".

The father was said to be a fellow inmate, John Watson, from Bradford.

Orobator - who is in Holloway prison along with her three-month-old baby girl - argues that she should be released because her conviction was a "flagrant denial of justice".

Her barrister, Edward Fitzgerald QC, told the court that Orobator and her baby were likely to be separated next April unless she were freed.

He said her continued detention in Britain was "unlawful" because of the injustice she had suffered in Laos.

The hearing is expected to last two days, and the judges have indicated judgment will be reserved to a later date.

The human rights group Reprieve has been involved in challenging Orobator's conviction, calling her trial "disgraceful".

Ministers have previously said sentences imposed abroad must be served to ensure other overseas UK prisoners are allowed to return.