A pregnant British woman was sentenced to life in prison for heroin trafficking by a court in Laos today. A panel of judges found Samantha Orobator, 20, guilty of trafficking 680g (1.5lb) of heroin last August, when she was caught trying to board a plane to Thailand.

A British Embassy diplomat who attended the trial said: “We are now seeking access to Samantha so we can discuss what we can do next.”

Orobator, who became pregnant while imprisoned, could have faced the death penalty. It is hoped that she will not spend much time in jail in Laos thanks to a prison transfer deal struck between David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary and the Laos government last month. Laotian officials, however, could still veto her return.

A Foreign Office spokesman said that the Government did not know how long it would take to bring Orobator back home, or if it would be possible at all. “She would ask for the transfer and then both states would have to consent to the transfer . It could take a number of months,” she said.

Survivors of Phanthong prison, where Orobator has been held since August, recently described the horrors of incarceration in the notorious jail where malnutrition, disease, abuse and torture are part of everyday life.

Kay Danes, an Australian who survived ten months in the same cell block where Ms Orobator is being held, said: “If she goes into early labour or starts miscarrying, nobody will come however much she screams," she said.

"I’ve heard all the prisoners yelling at the top of their lungs, shouting for the guards when one of the inmates was dying, and nobody comes. Nobody ever comes.”

Orobator, from South London, arrived in court this morning wearing a blue prison outfit and smiling at reporters. She was escorted by female prison guards but the young woman, who has been denied all contact with lawyers, was not in handcuffs or ankle chains.

Orobator is due to give birth in September. According to Laotian officials, she initially told authorities that she was pregnant by her boyfriend in England, but tests showed no signs of pregnancy.

Her mother, Jane, recently denied reports that her daughter had not been raped by prison officials or fellow prisoners.

Laotian police claimed in the state-run newspaper Vientiane Times yesterday that Orobator had admitted that she secretly obtained sperm from a fellow prisoner to impregnate herself in order to avoid the death penalty.

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