WORLD: British backpackers go on trial in Brazil

Two British law graduates arrested in Brazil on suspicion of fraudulently claiming they were robbed are due to go on trial today.

Shanti Andrews and Rebecca Turner, both 23, were expected to plead guilty in Rio de Janeiro to charges of attempted insurance fraud, said their lawyer Renato Tonini. The pair, who studied at the University of Sussex, have been staying at a Rio hotel, to which they were bailed after an earlier court date this month.

They were arrested on 26 July after allegedly telling police that belongings totalling about £1,000 were stolen during a bus journey while they were on a nine-month world tour.

Officers from a specialist tourist support unit apparently became suspicious that they had waited several days before reporting the incident to police. The graduates were taken into custody but freed on bail a week later after a successful appeal.

Mr Tonini said Ms Andrews, of Frant in Kent, and Ms Turner, of Woolton Hill in Berkshire, were confident they would be treated fairly by the Brazilian justice system. They had voluntarily surrendered their passports to show they have no intention of fleeing. The lawyer said the trial was unlikely to last longer than a day, but the judge has five days to decide on a sentence.

Mr Tonini said he thought the women would be fined or given community service rather than sent to prison.

After the arrests Ms Andrews's mother, Simone Headley, said the two friends were traumatised by their ordeal and said it was all a "misunderstanding".