Welsh woman Sara Assayed returns home from Kuwait prison

A Welsh woman has arrived back in the UK after being cleared of drug offences in Kuwait.

Sara Assayed, 35, had been held in a prison in Kuwait despite being cleared of drugs charges more than a month ago.

She had been sentenced to 10 years in prison last March after police claimed to find drugs in a car she was using.

Ms Assayed, who had lived in Kuwait City since she was 17 and worked as a primary school teacher, arrived at Heathrow Airport at about 13:20 BST.

Her conviction had been overturned on 15 June after an appeal court judge in Kuwait ruled there was insufficient evidence in her case.

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Sara Assayed has been cleared of any wrongdoing

'I feel we did something very good for this lady'

Nivin Marafi, her lawyer in Kuwait, said she was delighted her client was finally on her way back home.

She said: "I was really happy when I heard she was flying.

"She was really happy to go home. Everyone was helping me in the courts and the department and we feel we did something very good for this lady."

She said Ms Assayed's story was well known in Kuwait and said the delay in her deportation following the conviction being overturned had been made more difficult because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sara Assayed's parents have said the prison was "overcrowded and inhumane"

Ms Marafi, a women's rights lawyer, said securing Ms Assayed's exit from Kuwait following her arrest in March 2019 was an emotional moment.

She said: "I was really crying because I was really happy to give freedom for a human, as lawyers are always asking for freedom.

"I feel really happy that a human and a lady got her rights."

Ms Assayed's parents, Helen Conibear and Ziad Assayed, from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, previously said conditions in the Kuwaiti prison were "overcrowded and inhumane".