March 24
ENGLAND:
Death Row Briton Back Home as Conviction Is Quashed
A Briton who had his murder conviction quashed after spending more than
two years on death row in Nigeria has returned home, the Foreign Office
said tonight.
Ian Millar, 56, was sentenced to be hanged after being found guilty of
killing his Australian girlfriend Anne Marie Gale, 43, at their home in
Lagos in April 2002.
Mr Millar, originally from Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae, North Ayrshire
in Scotland, had denied the charge during the trial and launched an appeal
following the verdict.
His conviction was eventually overturned when a decision was announced by
the Nigerian Court of Appeal on March 10. It is thought the Briton
returned home some time later.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "Ian has left Nigeria and has returned to
the UK. He has various friends and family in various parts of the UK and
Europe and it is uncertain where he will settle down in the longer term.
"Ian is currently undergoing medical examination following his 3 years in
prison in Nigeria."
He added that doctors had said the freed Briton would be unable to talk
about his ordeal for at least 3 months.
Mr Millar, who grew up in Scotland before moving to Nigeria in 1987, was
convicted at the High Court in Lagos in October 2003.
It is understood that domestic staff employed in the couples home gave
evidence during the trial.
Mr Millar was held at Kiri Kiri prison in Lagos but spent much of the
sentence in hospital where he received treatment for diabetes.
(source: The Scotsman)
