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Teacher in teddy bear row jailed for 15 days by Sudan
British teacher Gillian Gibbons has been sentenced in Sudan to 15 days in jail for naming a teddy bear Mohammed.
A court found her guilty of insulting religion and inciting hatred and she will be deported after serving her sentence, her lawyer said.
The mother-of-two from Aigburth, Liverpool, had defended herself by explaining that her seven-year-old pupils had picked the name.
Last night Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoned Sudanese ambassador Omer Siddig to explain the sentence.
Mrs Gibbons, 54, could have faced 40 lashes, a fine and a six-month jail term for the offences.
She is expected to serve her term at the Omdurman women's prison near the capital Khartoum.
Robert Boulos, director of the Unity High School, where she worked, told reporters she would only serve 10 days as she had already spent five days in prison since being arrested.
The Foreign Office said it was "extremely disappointed" with the verdict. Earlier yesterday Mr Miliband met Mr Siddig as the trial got under way to push for the teacher's release.
Afterwards he said he was "very concerned" about Mrs Gibbons and that he believed it was an "innocent understanding".
Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, branded the court decision a "gross over-reaction from Sudanese authorities" and added: "This case should have required only simple common sense to resolve."
Mrs Gibbons's MP, Louise Ellman, said she understood there would be an appeal.
VIDEO: Yorkshire teacher's Sudan nightmare
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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