Mother and Irish-born daughter freed on bail

A MOTHER and her Irish-born child, who had been detained in Britain for more than two weeks, have been released on bail after a Scottish politician offered them a place to stay.

Mercy Ikolo and her one-year-old daughter Percielez had been held in the detention centre in Lanarkshire since they were picked up by immigration officials as they were returning to their home in Dublin following a visit to Scotland.

At a hearing yesterday, the mother and daughter were released on bail before a lawyer for the 32-year-old Cameroon woman and her Dublin-born child could argue the detention of the youngster was in breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.