Daisy the Silly Moo!

Call me cynical. But, I don't buy this story from the Daily Telegraph. Over here, after serving half of her sentence she would have been eligible for parole any way. I think there was some kind of deal struck and she was released on the basis of this. She claimed that because her own bag was torn, she borrowed one from someone else. I don't think it would have cost her all that much to buy a replacement in India. This would have been more sensible. Anyway, she borrows a suitcase from someone she has met. She is a fitness instructor. I assume that the one she borrowed was "empty"? Why would you borrow one that is full of somebody else's possessions? We are talking about a lot of weight here, even for a fitness instructor, 22lb of hashish. That is equivalent to 11 X 2lb bags of sugar. She said that she knew there was something in the suitcase but she did not know what it was. Surely such an experienced traveller could have taken a guess? Didn't she think to ask him? Surely her suspicions would have been aroused? Why does she think they have customs at airports, could one of the reasons be because of smuggling? I don't buy the it was in the man's possession argument. We are not talking about ownership here. She claims to have borrowed the suitcase, she tried to take it through customs, it was clearly in her possession at the time. No doubt the Daily Mail cannot wait to offer her a large sum of money for her experiences. Whoever said crime doesn't pay?

Cleared at last, British girl who spent years in an Indian prison

By Richard Savill and Rahul Bedi in New Delhi
Last Updated: 1:11am BST 09/04/2007

A British backpacker told last night how she had survived years in a tough Indian jail after she was wrongly convicted of smuggling cannabis.

Daisy Angus, 26, a former fitness instructor, was acquitted on appeal after serving nearly half of a 10-year sentence of what the judge demanded should be "rigorous imprisonment".

Daisy Angus, A British backpacker told last night how she had survived years in a tough Indian jail after she was wrongly convicted of smuggling cannabis
Daisy Angus: I haven’t been able to stop hugging my mother

"I am over the moon to finally be free," Miss Angus said. "Knowing that I was innocent and that justice would eventually prevail is one of the things I have clung on to during the past five gruelling years.

"I could not have got through this without the love and support of my family, especially my mum who has stood by me throughout, working tirelessly to get me out and prove my innocence. I just haven't been able to stop hugging her since coming out of jail."

Miss Angus, from Bournemouth, Dorset, was admitted to hospital on several occasions suffering from malaria and other infections during her years in the foreign women's wing at the Yerawada jail in Pune.

She was also reported to have learnt Hindi and taught English and yoga to her female inmates. She was the only European inmate although she did have two English-speaking prisoners for company.

Miss Angus, who always protested her innocence, claimed that she had been duped into carrying drugs through Bombay airport in 2002.

But when her case finally came to trial in June last year she was found guilty, only for the High Court in Bombay to overturn her conviction last Thursday, following a lengthy campaign by her family. Ayaz Khan, her advocate, said: "Daisy is happy to be free again. Her mother is happy and ecstatic; she was in tears and was very happy - finally she has got justice."

Miss Angus's father, John, died from leukaemia in December 2005, while his daughter was awaiting trial. "Daisy has had her tragic moments," Mr Khan said.

Miss Angus spent her early childhood in India with her parents, who worked for five years as volunteers in Mother Teresa's orphanage and home for the elderly in Calcutta.

In November 2002, she joined her parents in the northern hill station of Dharamsala, where Mr Angus, a travel consultant, celebrated his 50th birthday, and where her parents had often worked to support Tibetan refugees.

Her parents had expected her to fly to Australia for the next leg of her round-the-world trip, but an Israeli businessman she had met persuaded her to go to Berlin with him.

Miss Angus was 22 when she was arrested at the airport with 22lb of hashish in a secret compartment of a suitcase.

She claimed she was duped into taking the case through customs by the businessman. He was later freed by a judge because of a lack of evidence. His acquittal is now the subject of an appeal.

Miss Angus's defence always argued that the suitcase belonged to the businessman and was in his possession. She had borrowed the bag because hers was torn.

In an interview before last week's appeal, her mother, Nadine, 51, said her daughter was an experienced traveller having previously lived and worked in Poland, Austria, Uganda and Mexico.

She said: "I warned Daisy so many times because it was not the first time she had travelled. I said, 'please be careful', and she replied, 'Mum, you always see the wrong in others'."

Following her release, Miss Angus is travelling to Bombay with her mother, a nursery nurse originally from France. She is expected to fly home later this week after getting a new passport or some form of travel documents. Her passport expired while she was in jail.

The Foreign Office in London confirmed last night that Miss Angus had been acquitted.