Clemency petition gathers pace

A PETITION for clemency for a former British soldier who faces jail for people smuggling has gathered 43,500 signatures.

Rob Lawrie was caught by French police in Calais attempting to smuggle a four-year-old Afghan girl out of the country to join her relatives in the UK.

The former soldier will appear in court in January and faces up to five years in prison.

The petition asks the foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, to speak with his French counterparts regarding clemency for the 49-year-old who was a former soldier in the Royal Corps of Transport.

A French petition to Justice Minister Christiane Taubira and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has fared less well with just over 1,700 signatures.

Mr Lawrie was caught while returning from a supply trip to the refugee camp in Calais, dubbed The Jungle.

After speaking with the father of Bahar Ahmadi, he agreed to take the girl to her relatives who lived near his home town of Guiseley, West Yorkshire, so she would not spend the winter in the camp.

He was stopped and arrested with two other Eritrean men on board his van.