BRITON CLEARED ON DUBAI DRUG CHARGES

A British flight attendant charged with possession of cocaine in the United
Arab Emirates was "thrilled" last night after being cleared of all charges
and released from jail.

Katherine Jenkins, 31, a former Emirates Airlines stewardess from Neath,
South Wales, was in a hotel in Dubai, where she must remain for at least
two weeks, while the prosecution considers an appeal.

She had been in custody since October 2000, when police investigating a
drug-smuggling gang found 50g of cocaine in her apartment in Dubai.

Ms Jenkins, who was cleared yesterday after a retrial, had always denied
possession, claiming she found the cocaine in her flat and hid it,
believing that it belonged to a co-defendant in her lengthy trial.

Last night, her mother, Alvine, said: "I spoke to Katherine and she is just
thrilled and relieved that it is all over."

While Ms Jenkins was in prison, her father, Vivian, died of an aspirin
overdose. His inquest heard that he had been subject to "considerable
worry" due to his daughter's imprisonment, and that this and the deaths of
colleagues in a blast furnace fire at the Corus plant, in Port Talbot, had
taken its toll.

Yesterday, Ms Jenkins gasped when a translator told her the court had
acquitted her of all charges. At an earlier trial, a court in Ras Al
Khaimah delivered a "no verdict" in her case, prompting a retrial.

Two British men facing charges in the same trial were found guilty and
sentenced to four years in jail, though they have the right to appeal.

After the verdict, Stephen Jakobi, director of Fair Trials Abroad which has
campaigned on Ms Jenkins's behalf, said it was terrific news.