‘A thunder punch to the stomach’: Son of British couple jailed in Iran shocked at severe 10-year sentence

After more than a year held in Iranian prisons, the Foremans finally had a 10-year sentence confirmed this week

The son of a British couple detained in Tehran says the news that they have been sentenced to 10 years in prison is “devastating” and came completely out of the blue.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman, from East Sussex, have spent more than 13 months behind bars in Iran, denied legal representation and subjected to gruelling conditions, according to their family.

But Joe Bennett, Ms Foreman’s son, told The Independent on Thursday that the severity of the sentence was like a “thunder punch to the stomach”, coming some four months after they stood trial on disputed espionage charges.

“It’s almost as if we’ve now been given the diagnosis by the doctor,” he said. “When you get a cancer diagnosis, it is a harrowing thing to have to listen to ... but it also means that you can work towards fighting it and getting rid of it and healing.”

British couple Lindsay and Craig Foreman, of East Sussex, have been sentenced to 10 years in prison (Family handout)

“For the last 14 months we have had no idea what was going on ... Now it’s like, they have been given 10 years. So it was an absolute thunder punch to the stomach. I felt sick. And then you start to go, ‘now we know what we’re dealing with we can start to formulate some kind of plan that’s appropriate’.”

Mr Bennett said there was also new hope that the UK Foreign Office may be able to act to secure their release, having been waiting for a clear verdict for months. He said the sentencing would, at least, allow them to work on a plan.

Ms Foreman’s son is currently unsure if he would be able to contact his parents, having not heard from them at all on Thursday.

He was also unclear as to whether his parents would continue to be held at the Evin prison in Tehran, which he previously told The Independent had been used to detain protesters en masse during the regime’s crackdown.

Joe Bennett (R) has been campaigning for the release of his parents (Joe Bennett)

Mr Foreman is now being held in the prison’s political wing, while Ms Foreman is in the women’s section.

“Although they're both in an absolutely horrendous situation, Craig has people who he can speak English to and have conversations with,” Mr Bennett explained.

“Mum doesn’t. She’s in with the Iranians who speak Farsi and very little, broken English.

“So it’s, while overpopulated and overcrowded, extremely alienating. It must be a very weird thing to have to live through, in that you’re surrounded by people, but you feel so alone. And that’s one thing that we have to find out.”

The Foremans recently sent a letter to the authorities complaining about their treatment. Ms Foreman told the BBC in a call from prison ahead of the verdict that it was a “desperate attempt to try and bring justice into this situation”.

“We have so few tools at our disposal, we have no voice, all we can do is write letters and go on hunger strike. We need to exercise our right to be heard both by their legal system to say what you're doing is unfair and unjust, and we are prepared to suffer ourselves to make that understood,” she said on Wednesday.

Mr Bennett previously told of vermin-infested kitchens and long periods of solitary confinement at the Evin Prison where his parents are being held (Ehsan Iran)

Mr Bennett has said that his parents have been made to sleep on concrete floors or metal bunks with no mattresses and live in overcrowded, unsanitary and vermin-ridden conditions.

They were unable to call home for 213 days and have been subjected to 57 days of solitary confinement and interrogation, campaigners have said.

Mr Bennett toldThe Independent that he was encouraged by the government’s comments since the sentencing, and held hope that by the end of next week he may have some answers from the meetings and calls currently ongoing.

Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, issued a statement Thursday saying the sentence was “completely appalling and totally unjustifiable” and vowed to continue fighting for their release.

“We will pursue this case relentlessly with the Iranian government until we see Craig and Lindsay Foreman safely returned to the UK and reunited with their family,” Ms Cooper said in a statement.

The Foremans were arrested on 3 January last year while travelling through Iran on a global motorcycle journey. Iranian state media announced their detention the following month over espionage charges, which they deny.

Mr Bennett has campaigned for their release for months, raising concerns for their welfare and the lack of transparency in the judicial process. A petition for their release has passed 60,000 signatures.