Brit Laura Plummer, 33, will be freed from hellhole Egypt jail in hours after President’s pardon
A BRIT holidaymaker jailed in Egypt for carrying painkillers in her suitcase will be freed in the next two days.
Laura Plummer, 33, was sentenced to three years on Boxing Day for taking in 290 tramadol pills for her Egyptian husband Omar Saad’s bad back.
But the country’s president pardoned her during a “day of mercy” – with her name understood to be on a list of people to be released that has been sent to the country’s interior ministry for publication.
Caged Laura, of Hull, said she “can’t wait to get home” after being told she will be freed from her Cairo prison hell.
In a tearful phone call home, she sobbed: “I never thought this day would come. I’d given up hope.”
Laura said: “It’s hard to believe and hasn’t sunk in yet.”
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is due to announce her release on Saturday.
But sources have told Laura’s family they are 95 per cent sure she will be out on Friday.
Laura’s brother Kirk, 38, and sister Jayne Sinclair, 40, flew out to Cairo for her release.
Jayne told The Sun: “We can’t believe it’s over. We’ve prayed for this day since she was arrested. We just want to get her home.
“She’s been through a nightmare and will be scarred by her ordeal.
“It’ll be our job to put her back together but we’re pleased to have that chance.”
Laura was caught with 290 tramadol in her case at the start of a holiday in October.
The pills, given to her by a friend, are legal in the UK on prescription, but banned in Egypt.
She told cops they were for her Egyptian husband Omar Saad, 33, who has a bad back.
But prosecutors refused to believe he existed and were convinced she was a lone drug smuggler — leaving her facing the prospect of the death penalty.
I never thought this day would come. I’d given up hope
Laura Plummer
The Sun revealed her plight in November and went on to obtain crucial evidence that proved she had been telling the truth.
But Hull shop worker Laura was sentenced to three years and taken to Al Qanater Prison in Cairo.
As lawyers worked on an appeal, her family pinned their hopes on a pardon.
President el-Sisi rarely issues them to foreign prisoners.
Laura was caught with 290 tramadol in her case at the start of a holiday in October
But he made the decision to do so for Laura as Egypt marked the anniversary of the 2011 revolution with a national holiday.
Laura’s younger sister Rachel, 31, said: “We never expected this, not in our wildest dreams.”
Jayne added: “We were worried Laura would be forgotten, but The Sun made sure that never happened and we’ll forever be grateful.”