British mother in Greek jail for Christmas

A London mother must stay in prison in Crete over Christmas and the New Year.

Prison authorities confirmed Leah Andrew, 20, will continue to be imprisoned before her trial despite an appeal for bail lodged in August.

Andrew was jailed on 21 July charged with the murder of her newborn boy in her hotel room at the start of a holiday with friends on the Greek island.

All hope of a release in time for Christmas expired last night, when a Crete island magistrate failed to make a bail decision.

Under Greek law there is no obligation to answer the bail appeal until six months after her imprisonment date - 21 January.

Authorities said that even if she is released on bail next month, it is likely that she will have to stay in Greece and report to a local police station at regular intervals until her trial in the second half of the year.

Under Greek law she cannot stay in prison for longer than 18months without trial.

The mother-of-two, from Hither Green, who denies the charges, allegedly stifled her third child in her hotel a few days after arriving in July with her sister and a friend at the resort of Malia.