Hope for Saudi nurses

Two British nurses accused of murdering an Australian colleague in Saudi Arabia could be freed in a year with the help of diplomacy, a legal rights campaigner said yesterday. Deborah Parry, 39, and Lucille McLauchlan, 32, were arrested a year ago today and charged with the murder of Yvonne Gilford.

Stephen Jakobi, of the pressure group Fair Trials Abroad, said that despite an "unacceptable" justice system, diplomacy would resolve the situation, "and perhaps a year today they will be home". McLauchlan has been sentenced to eight years' in jail and 500 lashes. Parry has not yet been sentenced.