HOWZAT

Bottles of water and newspapers slid around the floor of the plane as passengers murmured their concern. The captain addressed the cabin: "We had to make a go-round as the preceding aircraft had not cleared the runway."

Minutes later the 54-year-old teacher was back in the bracing air of England.

John and Mrs Gibbons’s daughter Jessica had travelled from their homes in Liverpool to Heathrow to greet their mother. The family was reunited in a VIP lounge at the London airport, hugging each other. Smartly dressed in a blue suit, she held hands with John as she read a statement and took questions from the media.

She told reporters: “The Ambassador and staff at the embassy were fantastic, I couldn’t have got through the ordeal without their support.”

Referring to the school where she worked, she said: "The support I received there was legendary and I will miss my class and colleagues immensely. I would also like to thank everybody who sent me messages of support - although I haven’t read any of them yet - and my long-suffering family and friends."

When asked about the teddy bear row, she was cautious of saying much. "I don’t really know enough about it. It is a very difficult and delicate area. I was very upset to think I might have caused any offence."

The teacher's jail sentence provoked strong condemnation from Muslim groups in the UK but on Friday thousands of protesters, many carrying knives and sticks, took to the streets of Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, complaining that it was too lenient. Chanting "Shame, shame on the UK", they called for Ms Gibbons’ execution, saying "No tolerance: Execution" and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad". That night Ms Gibbons moved from the Omdurman women’s prison near Khartoum to a secret location for her own safety.

During her trial it emerged that the person who sparked Ms Gibbons's arrest was school office assistant Sara Khawad who complained to the Ministry of Education.

Ms Gibbons said that while in jail she was unaware of the scale of furore surrounding her case. She said: "The second day in prison somebody told me they had seen me in a paper in Sudan and then I had a meeting with the British consul, who told me it was in the papers over here too. "I was isolated in custody and didn’t really hear what was going on and they didn’t allow me many visitors to begin with. It has all come as a huge shock to me."

Going to prison was "terrifying", she said, although she never actually spent any time in the Omdurman women’s jail. She was treated the same as any other Sudanese prisoner and was given just "the bare minimum". Later, the Ministry of Interior sent her a bed which was "possibly the best present I ever had".

When asked if she was going to continue as a teacher, Ms Gibbons said yes and joked: "I’m looking for a job - I am jobless."

She added that she was now looking forward to spending Christmas with her family. The teacher, smartly dressed in a blue suit, held hands with John as she took questions from the media.The family were then driven away by police to an undisclosed location. They are then expected to travel back to Liverpool.

The Prime Minister has spoken to Ms Gibbons on the phone and wished her well.

Lord Ahmed said this morning that the peers had received a lot of private support in Sudan for their mission. "Even in the hotel people were coming up to me saying that this was complete madness, and they were very embarrassed about what's happened. A lot of people thought that this whole issue had brought Sudan into disrepute."

He rejected the idea that he and Baroness Warsi had been trading on their Islamic faith to plead for Mrs Gibbons's freedom. "We went there as British citizens and British parliamentarians to bring our fellow British citizen back home," he said.

"When we were in the presidential palace I said that we were a multi-cultural, multi-religious society in Britain where all religions are respected. I think people aren't aware of our traditions."

He paid tribute to Ms Gibbons, calling her "an amazing woman" who was able to make the best of even the bleakest situation. He said: "Even in prison she had that smile and when I told her I was from Yorkshire she said that she was born in Sheffield and so there was an immediate bond. She started saying she loved fish and chips and mushy peas.

"There was this terrible ordeal for her, moved from one prison to a CID detention centre, and yet when we went to see her she was looking around the lounge where we were sitting, which had leather sofas and air conditioning, and she was saying that it was nicer than her own lounge at home."

Gill Langworthy, a friend of Ms Gibbons and former colleague at Garston Primary School, said: "We are just thrilled. Gillian is one of the most open-minded people you could meet."

A small student demonstration took place outside the British Embassy in Khartoum after the announcement yesterday that the teacher had been pardoned by President Bashir, but most of the city remained quiet.

British diplomats have privately given warning that Ms Gibbons’s arrest may have further undermined relations between the two countries.

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