CONVICTED arms dealer Peter Bleach was offered fresh hope yesterday when Home Secretary Jack Straw personally intervened on his behalf.
Bleach, from North Yorkshire, is serving a life sentence in India after being found guilty of assisting rebels by arranging an arms drop over West Bengal in 1995.
The 48-year-old, a former pupil at St Peter's School in York, has continually claimed that he kept British intelligence informed of the operation.
However, while four Russians and a Latvian, who were jailed with him, were freed last month, he has not even been told when he will be allowed to appeal against his conviction.
Mr Straw, currently in Asia, raised the case at a meeting with his Indian counterpart Lal Krishna Advani urging him to speed up the court process.
A Home Office spokesman said: "Mr Straw raised concerns over Mr Bleach with Mr Advani and passed on representations he has received on the case. He did so in a manner which showed proper respect for the Indian judicial system."
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