Foreign jail's 'pure torture' (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Foreign jail's 'pure torture'

NICK Baker claims he has been mentally tortured and left deformed as a result of his "barbaric" stretch in a tough Japanese prison.

And the accused drug smuggler, who protests his innocence, admits that only the support of his family has kept him going.

In an emotional letter, addressed to Standard Chief Reporter Paul Bull, Nick says he has heard the screams of fellow inmates at Tokyo's Chiba Prison, as they are dragged away by guards.

And, as well as being "goaded and shouted at" by officials, the former Cirencester sandwich shop manager, says the conditions he has endured have left him with a bent spine.

In the letter, some of which has been written in reverse to prevent the Japanese authorities censoring it, Nick thanks the Standard for highlighting his plight.

And he says he longs for the day he can return to the UK and be reunited with his family.

He said: "I hope my letter and what I say can actually explain to you and do justice in explaining the pain and torture I have had to endure, and still am.

"It has turned me into a nervous and mental wreck and far from what I once was.

"I have heard people cry to sleep and grimace in pain because they are being dragged away by the guards for punishment to a room where I understand they are cuffed and chained to a wall."

Nick was arrested and charged with drug trafficking after he was stopped carrying a suitcase with £1.5 million worth of drugs at Tokyo Airport, last April.

He says the case belonged to his travelling companion, who was later arrested and charged himself for similar offences in Belgium.

The "friend" is believed to have duped other young people around the world into carrying his luggage through customs, but the Japanese authorities ignored the evidence during Nick's recent trial.

The British Foreign Office has since contacted Japan, demanding it look at the case again, and MEP Baroness Ludford is among those who have got involved.

In the meantime, Nick is due to be sentenced next month.

The 32-year-old, who says 95 per cent of the food served in Chiba is inedible, claims he is not allowed to lean, move or stand unless he is told to.

He added: "I broke my finger, only for them to refuse to x-ray it - to tell me it was frostbite, for it to be x-rayed three months later and it has reset itself out of line.

"I have now got a bent spine and parts of it are worn away (damaged) and I believe it needs an operation - from what I understand, as nothing is in English, and nothing has been done to aid me in any way.

"They have even refused to pass my medical records to the British Foreign Office.

"I'm left here alone, hoping and praying with the will and grace of God that I'm returned home in a few weeks' time, where I belong, back with my family - to be my son's dad, my son I don't even know, my family that I love and miss more each second.

"I thank my family for keeping me going until now and I want them to know that I love them truly with all my heart."

Nick's mother Iris, who has been campaigning to clear her son's name, added: "I hope we can see a light at the end of the tunnel."

Nick included a poem with his letter, thanking everyone who has written to him during his time in Chiba.

Write to: Nicholas Baker, Chiba Detention Centre, 192 Kaizuka-Cho, Wakabu-Ku, Chiba-Shi, Chiba-Ken, 264-0023, Japan.

Correspondents are asked to put their name and address on the back of the envelope.