Pregnant UK drugs smuggler given life sentence

Pregnant Briton Samantha Orobator was found guilty of heroin smuggling and sentenced to life in prison by a court in Laos today.

A British Embassy spokesman said the verdict on the 20-year-old from London was handed down at a one-day hearing in the capital Vientiane.

Heroin trafficking is punishable by death, but Lao law does not allow the execution of pregnant women. Under a recent pact, she could be extradited to serve her time in Britain.

Orobator’s case attracted attention because she became pregnant while in a women-only jail.

Lao officials think she may have managed to artificially inseminate herself.