The North Yorkshire family and friends of a charity worker jailed in India on drugs charges are to protest outside the Indian High Commission in London.

Ian Stillman, from Reading, Berkshire, has been in jail in northern India for two years after police claimed they found drugs in a taxi he was sharing with others.

Mr Stillman, who is deaf and an amputee, was jailed for ten years after the taxi was stopped in August 2000.

Up to 20kg of cannabis was allegedly found in the vehicle.

'Take notice'

Mr Stillman's family, who live in York, say the Indian judicial system has questioned his deafness, and has never allowed him to have a fair trial.

Ian's brother-in-law Gerry Dugdale told BBC News Online: "His deafness has been questioned by the courts continuously, and in fact, they actually came out and said he wasn't deaf.

"And so, the point of today is to say Ian's deafness is not a matter of legal opinion, it is a medical fact, and the Indian government needs to sit up and take notice, and take action."