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Drug charge backpacker in court
Wednesday, 21 April, 2004


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.

Campaigners back jailed woman

Daisy Angus was arrested six weeks ago in Bombay
Wednesday, 8 January, 2003, 13:43 GMT

A campaign to free a woman jailed for drugs offences in India has been backed by Fair Trials Abroad.

Daisy Angus, 22, from Bournemouth, Dorset, was arrested six weeks ago at Bombay airport on her way to Berlin with a friend.

As she went through customs, Indian officials found 10 kilos of hashish in a suitcase being used by Ms Angus but which belonged to her friend.

Stephen Jakobi, director of Fair Trials Abroad, said Ms Angus's story was a classic tale of an innocent being duped by a professional drug smuggler.


Ms Angus will have to wait a year for her trial

On Wednesday Ms Angus, a trainee fitness instructor, was transferred to hospital after contracting malaria.

Her father John is in Bombay fighting for her release while her mother Nadine is at home in Bournemouth to put pressure on the UK Government and Indian High Commission.

Mrs Angus, 46, said that she believed her daughter had been tricked into taking the suitcase through customs.

Mrs Angus said: "She packed her backpack, which broke at the last minute.

Dubious charges

"Her friend said 'Do not worry, put some of your clothes inside my suitcase'.

"She did not carry the suitcase. It was only at the customs x-ray that the officer picked it out because it was heavy.

"Daisy said 'It is my friend's, it has some of my clothes in it, you can open it, it will be fine'.

"It was then they found the 10kg of hashish inside."

Mr Jakobi, from Fair Trials Abroad, said: "These are dubious charges against her and I am reasonably satisfied that as long as all the evidence is put before the court and she has good lawyers, then she has a chance of being acquitted."

Ms Angus is not expected to be charged for another month, with the trial not due to commence for another year.

Drug woman took money, says father

Daisy Angus was arrested six weeks ago in Bombay
Thursday, 9 January, 2003, 20:59 GMT

A young woman jailed in India on drugs charges accepted $10,000 to take a suitcase through customs, her father has told the BBC.

Daisy Angus, 22, from Bournemouth, Dorset, was arrested six weeks ago at Bombay airport after officials found 10 kilograms of hashish in a suitcase.

She initially claimed the suitcase belonged to the man she was travelling with, and had no knowledge of the drugs inside.

In an interview with BBC South Today on Thursday, her father, John Angus, revealed she knew the man was a drug smuggler and was suspicious of the suitcase from the start.

In the light of the new revelations, a spokesman for the human rights organisation Fair Trials Abroad said it could no longer act on her behalf.

"The first knowledge we had of this latest information was today [Thursday], and now we cannot act, as one of the principles on which we act is a declaration of innocence," the spokesman said.

'Drugs mule' in illness scare

Ms Angus faces 10 years in jail if convicted
A 22-year-old British woman awaiting trial for drug smuggling in an Indian jail has been taken to hospital with suspected meningitis.

Daisy Angus was arrested with 22 pounds (10 kilgrams) of cannabis in her suitcase and is due in court next Wednesday.

The fitness instructor from Bournemouth, Dorset, had confessed to her father that she knew she was carrying the drugs at Bombay airport.

Ms Angus, who has been held since December, has already had a stay in hospital suffering from malaria.

'Liver problem'

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said Ms Angus had been in hospital several times since 24 January.

He said: "She was complaining of a liver problem and underwent tests for meningitis.

"The tests weren't conclusive and she has had further tests to determine what the problem is."

The spokesman said Ms Angus was now out of hospital but was still waiting for her test results.

Mother Theresa

Ms Angus's friend, 37-year-old Israeli Yoran Kadesh, is also awaiting trial.

The pair face 10 years in jail if convicted.

Ms Angus spent her early childhood in India with her parents, John and Nadine, who worked for five years as volunteers in Mother Teresa's care home in Calcutta.

She was arrested soon after she had left her parents in the north Indian hill station of Dharamsala, where Mr Angus, a travel consultant, had celebrated his 50th birthday.

He and his wife regularly work at Dharamsala helping Tibetan refugees.

Backpacker faces drugs charge

Ms Angus faces 10 years in jail if convicted
A 22-year-old British woman held in an Indian jail on suspicion of drug smuggling has been charged.

Backpacker Daisy Angus was arrested in December 2002 when customs officials at Bombay airport found 22 pounds (10 kilogrammes) of cannabis hidden in a secret compartment of her suitcase.

She initially claimed the drugs had been planted but later admitted she knew they were in her case but that she had been threatened by an acquaintance.

It is believed the 22-year-old fitness instructor from Bournemouth, Dorset, will face trial before the end of the year.

Parents' visit

Her parents, John and Nadine, have both visited their daughter in jail and are planning another visit next month.

Ms Angus spent her early childhood in India with her parents, who worked for five years as volunteers in Mother Teresa's care home in Calcutta.

She was arrested soon after she had left her parents in the north Indian hill station of Dharamsala, where Mr Angus, a travel consultant, had celebrated his 50th birthday.

He and his wife regularly work at Dharamsala helping Tibetan refugees.

Exact details of the charges faced by Ms Angus are not yet known.
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