Britain urges release of teenager

Britain urges release of teenager

Britain has urged the Russian authorities to release a British teenager held in a Moscow jail pending a retrial on a drug-smuggling charge.

The Foreign Office confirmed last night that it had written to the prosecutor- general seeking clarification of the position of Karen Henderson, 18, whose conviction last October for smuggling pounds 500,000 worth of cocaine from Cuba was thrown out last month.

The appeal court verdict saved Miss Henderson, whose family are from Scotland, from being sent to a labour camp at Mordovia, 300 miles from Moscow. She had been sentenced to six years.