JAIL PLEA FOR DRUG WOMAN IS REJECTED

THE Foreign Office has rejected a request by the parents of a convicted
British drug smuggler to support a plea to the King of Thailand for a
reduction in her 25-year jail sentence.

Stan Gregory, a retired engineer, and his wife, Doreen, appealed to the
Government to ask for the early release of their daughter, Sandra, who was
convicted of trying to smuggle heroin from Thailand. Gregory, 33, a
teacher, was jailed by a court in Bangkok in 1996 but she was allowed to
return to Britain last year to serve her sentence.

The duration of her term is still governed by Thai law, although remission
is a matter for the British prison authorities. She will be due for parole
in 2004. Yesterday, Gregory's parents, of Pitcaple, Aberdeenshire, broke
their silence over the case to launch a campaign for early release. Their
daughter's lawyer has appealed to the King of Thailand for clemency.

The Foreign Office, however, said it would consider petitions to a foreign
government only if the subject was still in an overseas jail. A spokesman
said: "While we sympathise with her parents, they are able to visit her.
She was convicted of a very serious drugs offence and it is a well known
fact throughout the world that the penalties following conviction for such
crimes are far more severe in Thailand than in the UK."

In a letter to the Scotsman newspaper, Gregory's parents accepted that
their daughter had been "foolish", but said she was seriously ill when she
agreed to carry the drugs. "The injustice of the situation is having a
disturbing effect on her mental state with bouts of deep depression," they
said.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski