Drug Briton's sentence is cut

An Essex woman jailed in the United Arab Emirates for drug trafficking has had her life sentence cut by more than half on appeal, the Foreign Office said today.

Anna Bartlett, 23, from Southend, will now serve 10 years. The 25-year term without parole was handed down in May, and she could have faced the death penalty.

Bartlett denied using, trafficking and importing drugs into the Emirates but was found guilty by a panel of judges and ordered to pay the equivalent of £10,000. Daniel Maalouf, 28, from London, who was jailed for 10 years at the same trial for intent to traffic drugs, also had his sentence cut, to four years.

Bartlett's father Philip, 52, also of Southend, said his daughter's lawyer had given him the news. "Everybody in the UAE has been very good considering the circumstances. Anna had good medical care and was well legally-aided."