Sister of jailed Ashington man Nick Dunn 'heartbroken' to hear summer appeal is unlikely

The sister of jailed Ashington man Nick Dunn said she is “heartbroken” that she will have to tell her brother the appeal against his Indian jail sentence is not likely to be held this summer.

Lisa Dunn met with the Minister of state at the Commonwealth and Foreign Office Hugo Swire in Carlisle on Tuesday, along with families of the other five men jailed with Nick.

She was told that because of elections in the country, an appeal hearing is unlikely to get under way this summer as Nick had hoped.

“It is heartbreaking, June has been what is getting him through, he has said it in all of his letters.

“We’ve just got to do out best to support Nick through this, we’re very proud of the strength and the resilience he has shown so far.”

Nick was found guilty of firearms offences while working protecting ships in India and was handed a five-year sentence by an Indian judge in January.

The conviction followed a 28-month legal wrangle, with Nick and his co-defendants maintaining their innocence throughout.

Lisa said she assured by the Commonwealth and Foreign Office that they have lobbied the Indian prison service more than thirty times to improve the conditions at the subcontinental prison.

Nick shares a cell with 19 other men, without fans in extreme heat and humidity.

He is forced to use a hole in the floor for a toilet, hand wash his own clothes and sleep on a concrete slab for a bed.

“Its torturous, it really is. There seems to be no rules, no regulations.”

Nick was arrested in October 2013, along with five other British workers for the alleged illegal possession of weapons, while working for AdvanFort who provide protection to other ships from pirate attacks.

The charges filed against Nick and the others by Q Branch Police were quashed, but the police lodged an appeal against the decision with the Supreme Court.

The former paratrooper would only be able to apply to serve out the rest of his sentence in the UK if he pleaded guilty to the charges, Lisa explained.

“When he left that prison, he told me he would rather die than go back there, but there he is and he would rather be in that place than have to admit to something he hasn’t done,” she said.

“That shows his mindset and how strongly he feels about this.”

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