Drug charge backpacker in court

Daisy Angus faces 10 years in jail if convicted

A 23-year-old British backpacker held in an Indian jail on drug smuggling charges has appeared in court.

Daisy Angus was arrested in December 2002 when customs officials at Bombay Airport found 22 pounds of cannabis hidden in her suitcase.

The fitness instructor, of Bournemouth, Dorset, later confessed to her father that she knew she was carrying drugs.

Ms Angus, who is being held at Byculla Prison in Bombay, faces 10 years in jail if convicted.

Health problems

She was about to begin the next leg of her round-the-world trip when she was detained at the airport.

Ms Angus had planned to travel to Berlin, Germany, with an acquaintance, Israeli Yoran Kadesh, who was also arrested and faces trial.

Mr Kadesh also faces a possible 10-year prison sentence.

Indian officials discovered the 10kg of hashish hidden in a secret compartment of a case she was using.

Ms Angus has been in hospital a number of times since her arrest with suspected meningitis and malaria.

It was during a stay in hospital that it is alleged she confessed she knew about the drugs to her 51-year-old father John.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We don't know how long the trial will last.

"It depends on what the specific charges are and on the availability of courts in India to see the case through."

Fair Trials Abroad withdrew from the case after Miss Angus admitted knowing about the drugs.