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U.K:Two others escape Japanese prison hell Emma Tilley Wilts and Gloucester Standard Saturday 17 May 2008 Nick's mum Iris Baker, who lives in Cirencester, believes the international publicity given to her son's case has helped to reform evidence-gathering in the Japanese judicial system. Nick, 36, was imprisoned in 2003 for smuggling £1.4 million worth of cocaine and ecstasy pills into Tokyo but has always protested his innocence. advertisement He was given a 14-year sentence, later reduced to 11 years, and spent six years in solitary confinement in harsh conditions. He has now been transferred to Wandsworth Prison to carry out the remainder of his sentence. Since his return in April a 28-year-old Swiss woman was cleared of smuggling amphetamines into Japan and on May 1 a 54-year-old British man was found not guilty of smuggling ten kilograms of cannabis into Japan. In both cases the judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to convict. Iris said: "For that to happen in Japan is a miracle where 99.7 percent of defendants are found guilty. "I am sure that all of the publicity for Nick's case and others will have brought this to light." She said Nick was lucky as he was allowed to see visitors twice a month. "It is very hard for foreign prisoners in Japan to get visitors but I think that was what kept Nick going," she said. Now Nick and his mum plan to help others who have gone through the same experience and hope to set up a charity. Iris sends letters and money to British prisoners in Japan to offer her support. She said: "I want to bring awareness about the abuse of human rights in these prisons. "Japan signed the Geneva Convention for human rights and should be made to abide by it." http://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/display.var.2275888.0.two_others_escape_japanese_prison_hell.php
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