Pubdate: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 Source: Daily Telegraph (UK) Copyright: of Telegraph Group Limited 1999 Contact: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ Author: Jon Stock, in New Delhi FREED DRUG-CASE BRITON ATTACKS 'CORRUPT' INDIA ALEXIA STEWART, one of two Britons freed after 19 months in an Indian jail on drugs charges, spoke yesterday of how she shared a 25ft by 15ft cell with 15 other women, including convicted murderers. At one end was a cage, where the most violent prisoners were confined. At the other was a shared lavatory - a hole in the ground. Thin and pale, Miss Stewart, 29, the daughter of an Oxford don, said she spent 20 out of every 24 hours in the dimly lit cell, keeping herself occupied by reading and doing embroidery. In the daily "fresh-air period", spent in a hot courtyard, she made brooms out of palm leaves and cleaned rice. She said: "Sometimes I tried jogging round the cell, but the other inmates would laugh and chase me. I would not feel safe coming to India again. I wouldn't feel comfortable. I've seen how people at every level are corrupt - in jail, the police, the government." Miss Stewart - who, with her boyfriend Gary Carter, 30, was jailed for 10 years in Goa on drugs charges - was released on Wednesday. They were cleared of all charges by Goa's high court on appeal on Tuesday, but because of a legal technicality Mr Carter's release was delayed a day until yesterday. He was met by his parents and his sister as he left the Aguada jail in Panaji, Goa's capital. Miss Stewart and her father were also there to greet him in an emotional reunion. Mr Carter's sister Tania, 34, said last night: "We're thrilled. It's the happiest day of my life. Mentally, Gary's fine, but he's very thin. We've been very grateful for the support back home. We're just a small family from Milton Keynes." Miss Stewart, a graduate in Japanese from Stirling University, enjoyed her first day of freedom with her father, the director of human sciences at St Anne's College, Oxford. The couple were arrested in March 1998 after Goa's drug squad officers said they had found 165 grams (5.8oz) of cannabis in the garden of their rented cottage in the village of Vagator, where Miss Stewart was running a beachside shop. Mr Carter was in the process of setting up an internet cafe. The pair said the cannabis had been planted by the officers, who had demanded a pounds 2,000 bribe. The appeal court believed them, citing discrepancies in the prosecution's case. The ruling said: "The bench found it difficult to believe that the contraband was recovered from their possession." After a six-month trial last year, they were found guilty and sentenced to 10 years "rigorous imprisonment". The judge accused drug tourists of "destroying the youth of Goa". Part of the problem, it seems, was that the couple had given false names upon arrest. Miss Stewart called herself Lucy Sky, in what she thought was a jokey reference to the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Mr Carter called himself Larry Sky. The court suspected them of duplicity. Mr Carter declined to talk to reporters last night. His father is head of information technology for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea