Trial by Ordeal

Lucy McLauchlan went to Saudi Arabia to work as a nurse, but within months of her arrival found herself accused of murder and facing the possibility of public execution by beheading. Here, in her own words, she tells her fateful story. Lucy and her fellow nurse, Deborah Parry, both signed confessions but only after being threatened with assault and rape by the police. The Saudi legal system then refused to listen when the nurses tried to retract them. For 17 months they were held in prison in Dharhan. Behind bars, Lucy maintained her sanity by keeping a regular diary which recorded her every thought and mood swing.