THE wife of a man being held in a Swiss prison on suspicion of murder has been told her husband could be home - a free man, for Christmas.

A solicitor has told Alison El Hamri that husband Majid, 40, could be on his way back to Britain, and his Teesside home, within 24 hours of a tribunal hearing, which the former Eaglescliffe pizza takeaway manager is insisting is held.

Mr El Hamri has been held without charge or trial in Switzerland since he was deported there from Britain, last February - on suspicion of a murder which he says he did not commit.

Mr El Hamri has called off a hunger strike on the advice of his solicitor. In a letter to The Northern Echo he said: "Now you know what I'm going through and how frustrating it is. Nine months now in prison and for what? I never did no crime at all!"

He missed the seventh birthday of his IVF born twins Anas and Aaron earlier this year.

Mrs El Hamri is at a loss to understand what the deportation or the past nine months have been about. The couple had a telephone conversation and Mrs El Hamri said: "He is much happier, talking about coming home. He felt he is now coming home. The solicitor says there is a good chance it will be before Christmas."

Mr El Hamri is being held on suspicion of killing an elderly man in the 1980s, although he has been cleared of three linked murders