Samantha Orobator sentenced to life in prison

Samantha Orobator, the pregnant Londoner who was arrested in Laos last year for smuggling heroin, has been sentenced to life after a three-hour trial.

The 20-year-old was spared the death sentence - the mandatory sentence for drug traffickers in Laos - because the execution of pregnant prisoners is not allowed.

Orobator was arrested at Wattay international airport last August after she was found to be carrying 1.5lbs of heroin, an amount that is classified under Laos law as trafficking rather than possession. She originally denied that the drugs were hers, but at the trial this morning Orabator admitted to attempting to smuggle the heroin out of the country to Australia.

Orobator, who is from Peckham, south London, is likely to be allowed to serve her sentence in the UK once the prisoner transfer treaty signed by both countries last month is ratified. If her sentence is transferred to Britain, she may be eligible for release in a few years as a first offender.

Orobator's trial was delayed while Laotian officials tried to find out how she became pregnant in prison last December. Orobator's mother Jane, who was in court for the trial, has said her daughter was not sexually assaulted in jail. ·