Deaf charity worker Ian Stillman who was imprisoned for two years in India for drug smuggling is seeking a pardon.

Mr Stillman, who arrived back in the UK on Friday, was released on health grounds after Foreign Secretary Jack Straw personally intervened.

But the 52-year-old hopes to receive an official pardon and clear his name.

Mr Stillman was found guilty of smuggling 20 kilograms of cannabis in August 2000 after the drug was found in a shared taxi, but has always maintained his innocence.

I was in jail far, far longer than I thought I would have been Ian Stillman

The authorities at his original trial would not believe he could not hear and refused him an interpreter. He was sentenced to 10 years.

Fair Trials Abroad, which led the campaign for his release, called his trial "an uncivilised disgrace".

Arriving at Heathrow Airport with son, Lennie, 23, Mr Stillman said: "It's brilliant to be free again."

'Miscarriage of justice'

Using sign language interpreted by his son, he thanked people for all their support, particularly the thousands who had prayed for him.

"I was in jail far, far longer than I thought I would have been," he said.

"I thought I would be freed after six months but it has taken just over two years."

Mr Stillman, who also lost a leg in a car crash, was freed from prison in Shimla, north of Delhi, on Saturday after serving two years.

Stephen Jacobi, of Fair Trials Abroad, was critical of the Indian police and the British consular services.

Arriving at Heathrow with his son Lennie

He said police corruption and Mr Stillman's disability combined to create one of the worst miscarriages of justice he had worked on.

He called for an inquiry into the behaviour of the consular division.

Earlier this week his father Roy Stillman, from York, told the BBC that the family's main concern was getting his son back to full health before seeking to clear his name.

Family overjoyed

"Only when he's stronger and he's had the medical attention he desperately needs will he be able to fight the question of his pardon," said Mr Stillman.

"Then he will be strong enough and perfectly able to fight his own corner.

"Until then, we're only concerned about his health and we're absolutely overjoyed that he's free."

Campaigners petitioned for Mr Stillman's release

Mr Straw, who met the Indian Minister for External Affairs Yashwant Sinah on Wednesday, said he thanked him for his assistance in relation to Mr Stillman's case and other UK consular issues.

The Indian authorities had come under increasing pressure to free Mr Stillman, who is deaf, has an artificial leg and diabetes.

He has spent most of his life working for deaf causes in India and he said on Friday that his wife Sue would continue their work on two projects in the south of the country.

He said he hoped to return there himself one day.