A British couple who were on the trip of a lifetime have been jailed in Iran for ten years after being accused of spying.
Lindsay and Craig Foreman were arrested by Iranian forces in January 2025 while travelling around the world on a motorcycle.
The couple, from East Sussex, who are being held in Tehran’s Evin prison, have continued to deny allegations of espionage.
Lindsay’s son, Joe Bennett, told the BBC the sentencing was “gutwrenching”.
He added: “I do believe that the Government, the whole way along this process, have said that we’ve got to wait for sentencing, and now that that’s there, I do feel that they can step up to the mark, and they should step up to the mark.
“You don’t fully ever know, but I think if you look at history, the 10 years is just a number, and that we work towards it being as short a time as possible.
“I think if you look at the playbook, which there isn’t much of one, but if you look at it and how it plays out from sentencing, we have seen some cases that are resolved within a matter of weeks, we’ve seen some cases that unfortunately drag out for years.”
“This sentence is completely appalling and totally unjustifiable,” Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said.
“We will pursue this case relentlessly with the Iranian government until we see Craig and Lindsay Foreman safely returned to the UK and reunited with their family.
“They have consistently denied the allegations. We have seen no evidence to support the charge of espionage.
“We were previously told that once sentencing occurred, further action would follow. We now hope the UK Government will act decisively and use every available avenue to secure their release.”
In January, Bennett was joined by former detainee Anoosheh Ashoori and Richard Ratcliffe, who fought a public campaign that involved two hunger strikes to have his wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, freed from Iran.
Ahead of his sentencing, Foreman said he had a one-word message for the UK Government.
“One word would be: help. Full stop,” he told ITV News. “I don’t understand why we have been here for 13 months, being held hostage in 2026. In what day and age does this happen? When does this end?”
He described being held in an eight-foot cell with a hole in the floor and a sink, adding: “Emotionally and physically, it broke me to pieces.”
Craig said the infrequent meetings with his wife are what sustain him.
“I know her prison is just 70 metres away, and I get to see her once a month,” he said.
“For Lindsay, and for me, seeing each other is the only thing that’s keeping us going right now.
“I love my wife dearly. She’s the love of my life.”
