British Couple Jailed By Iran For 10 Years

A British couple who were arrested while passing through Iran on a round-the-world motorcycle trip have been sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage, their family have said.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman were detained by Iranian authorities in January 2025, and were later charged with spying, which the couple denies.

The Foremans are detained separately in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, which has been used by the Iranian government to hold political prisoners.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called the sentence “completely appalling and totally unjustifiable”, while Linday’s son Joe Bennett said his family “are deeply concerned about their welfare”.

Bennett said that no evidence of spying has ever been presented by the Iranian authorities and called on the British government to “act decisively and use every available avenue” to bring them home.

The Foremans previously appeared in a three-hour long court hearing in Tehran in October and were not allowed to make a defence.

The family say a judge delivered the sentence at the Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

The Sussex couple, who are both in their 50s, had endured 13 months in “dire” conditions, Bennett has previously said – adding that they were surrounded by “dirt, vermin, and violence”, and losing weight.

The Foremans are detained in separate wings of Evin prison, which has long drawn criticism for alleged torture and inhumane conditions. It reportedly holds thousands of inmates, including journalists and political prisoners.

Bennett has said the couple’s lawyers in Iran made it clear there was no legal basis for a case against them, but that their bail applications had been ignored.

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