Plane-spotters return from India

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Plane-spotters return from India

Two British plane-spotters have returned home from India after being fined for monitoring aircraft.

Stephen Hampton, 46, and Steven Ayres, 56, both from Bristol avoided spying charges but were charged with a lesser offence under the Indian Telegraph Act.

Both men, both railway workers, admitted the charge and were fined 25,000 rupees each (£365).

Suspicion was aroused after they asked for a hotel room overlooking a runway at Indira Gandhi International Airport.

When arrested the pair were in possession of an air traffic control scanner, laptop, binoculars and cameras.

'Complicated case'

Defence lawyer Rajeev Awasthi said the restrictions on leaving the country were lifted and they arrived home on Wednesday morning.

He said: "The case was really complicated but respective agencies have played a very fair role and they have not attributed any serious offences.

"The court, instead of giving them prison for three years, appreciated my argument and took a lenient view and cleared them to leave the country.

"Formalities were concluded within a day and these persons are back home safely without any problems.

"They boarded yesterday an early morning flight from India and I just now received a message they are back home safely this morning."

Their arrest on 15 February came at a time when India was on high alert two days after a bomb blast at a German bakery in Pune.

It was the first major strike of its kind in India since the Mumbai attacks in November 2008.