A Briton’s expected release from death row was delayed yesterday after he was taken to hospital with chest pains and told that he would need heart surgery.

Kenny Richey, who has spent 20 years on death row in the United States, was due to appear at a court hearing in Ohio, where he would have been set free, but this has now been postponed until January 8.

Ken Parsigian, his lawyer, said: “We know very little. Kenny was taken to hospital early this morning. The doctors have determined they need to put in a heart catheter.”

He said that Richey’s health took priority. “Obviously we would like to get Kenny released as soon as he is healthy enough. The most important thing to remember is if this was going to happen some time in the next 48 hours it was probably the best time. It could have happened when he was on the plane,” he said.

“Kenny spent so many Christmases away from his family. This one was going to be so special.”

Richey, 43, who is originally from Edinburgh, was sentenced to death in 1987 for killing a toddler in a house fire in Ohio. He came within an hour of being executed in 1994 and this year his conviction was overturned.

He agreed to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, in return for which he would have been able to return to Edinburgh by Christmas. Richey, who is a client of the media agent Max Clifford, had heart problems in the past and was taking nitroglycerin tablets. His brother, Steven, who was in Ohio to pick him up, believed that the incident was caused by stress. He said that his brother had suffered at least one heart attack in jail and had been complaining about his heart hurting a couple weeks ago. He saw a doctor about the pain and was told everything was fine.

Karen Torley, Richey’s former fiancee and a long-time campaigner for his release, said: “Kenny has had chest pains before and nothing was done. Year after year I have fought to get him medical treatment and they didn’t even give him vitamin tablets until a couple of months ago. It’s only now they are doing something about it and it is a stalling tactic. I have only just heard and I can’t believe it. His mum will be gutted.”

Before he was taken to hospital, Richey’s mother, Eileen, who has not seen her son since he left for the US aged 18, said: “I don’t think that I’ll be able to believe my son is finally free . . . until he is back home in Edinburgh with me.”

Clive Stafford Smith, director of Reprieve, the charity that fights for prisoners on death row, said “This is a terrible tragedy for Kenny. His health has deteriorated throughout his time on death row. I cannot imagine the stresses and strains.”

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