Woman jailed for carrying painkillers says she cannot wait to get home to the UK

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A British woman released from jail in Egypt has spoken of her relief at being able to return to the UK.

Laura Plummer, 34, from Hull, was sentenced to three years in prison on Boxing Day in 2017 for taking 290 tramadol tablets into the country.

The shop worker applied for and was granted early release on Monday.

“There were times when I thought this day would never come. I just want to get home and have a long bath and to get in my own bed,” she said.

The Sun reported that Plummer flew to Europe on Monday and is due back in the UK on Tuesday.

She was arrested at Hurghada airport on 9 October 2017 after flying in to the Red Sea resort.

Plummer claimed she was bringing the tablets – which are legal in the UK but banned in Egypt – for her Egyptian partner, Omar Caboo, who has severe back pain, and was unaware she was doing anything wrong.

Speaking about the impact of the prison sentence on their relationship, she said: “I love him and he loves me, and our love has survived the most traumatic of ordeals.”

Plummer’s family previously said she had no idea what she was doing was illegal and described her as “daft”.

They said Plummer did not try to hide the medicine, which she had been given by a friend, and she thought it was a joke when she was pulled over by officials after arriving for a holiday with her partner.

Her mother said her daughter was being held in terrible conditions in a communal cell with no beds, sharing with up to 25 other women.