THE family of a woman threatened with the death penalty over drugs charges in Malaysia spoke of their relief last night after hearing she will be free by September.
Shivaun Orton and husband Abdul Harris Fadilah were arrested after police seized heroin and ecstasy last December.
Mrs Orton, whose family are from Harlech, Gwynedd, has been jailed for 14 months for four charges.
Because she has been in custody since last December she will have completed her sentence by September.
Her sisters Thalia and Stephanie, from North Wales, and brother Daniel, who lives in Leicestershire, have campaigned for her release.
A spokesperson for her mother Shirley Orton, from Harlech, told of the family’s relief.
“She [Shirley] and the whole family are totally relieved,” they said.
“As far as she’s concerned, her daughter was innocent, but in view of the circumstances out there anything could have happened – Malaysia is very different from the UK.”
Initially Mrs Orton, 41, and her husband Abdul, who have been married for 20 years and have two teenage sons, pleaded not guilty to eight charges of possessing and trafficking drugs.
The couple run a holiday chalet business at Cherating resort in the northern state of Terengganu.
Their home in Cherating, which is a popular location for backpackers, was raided on December 13.
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