The fiancee of imprisoned pirate hunter Billy Irving will come face-to-face with her partner for the first time in nearly eight months when she flies to India on Friday.
Yvonne MacHugh said the couple, who have a two-year-old son William, are still stuck in legal limbo as they await the outcome of an appeal against his five-year sentence.
Mr Irving, a former soldier from Connel, near Oban, was jailed in January last year alongside five colleagues.
The men were detained on board an anti-piracy ship in 2013. They were working as security guards on a US-owned ship when they were arrested on illegal weapons charges.
An appeal against the conviction is with the Indian courts, after evidence that the security workers had all the proper documentation.
The final appeal hearing took place in an Indian court in November, and the Brits have been waiting to be given a decision or even a date for a decision, ever since.
Miss MacHugh said: “We were supposed to hear by last Friday, either the result of the appeal or a date for the result.
“I’m going out on Friday to see Billy. I don’t feel hopeful for anything I just want to see him and hear his voice again.”
She will spend six days in India and has been given special permission for four prison visits during her stay.
She said: “I am so pleased with that, the Foreign Office sorted that for me, normally you would only get three visits over six days.
“I will also be meeting with the Foreign Office, high commissioner and the lawyers to try and get more information.
“I haven’t seen him since June last year. He can’t wait, he is counting down the days.
“I am just so excited. I can’t wait to see him and see for myself that he is all right. With no phone calls it is so hard not being able to hear his voice and know first hand from him he is OK.”
A spokeswoman for the FCO said: “We recognise what a difficult time this is for those involved and we have taken significant action on this case.
“The Prime Minister raised the case with Indian Prime Minister Modi during her visit to India in November 2016 and the Foreign Secretary was able to raise it with the Minister of State for External Affairs during his visit in January. On each occasion, they stressed the importance of seeing progress.
“Alok Sharma, the Foreign Office Minister for Asia pressed for progress during his first official visit in July and again last November. In 2016 the then Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire travelled to India to meet the men personally, as well as meeting their families in Carlisle.
“Foreign Office staff in India have been providing support to all six men since their arrest and are working to make sure their welfare is protected in prison.
“We are also in regular contact with their families in the UK.”
