AN MP has urged the Government to help a 31-year-old man imprisoned in India.

In July 2006, former Dartford resident Patrick Malluzzo was convicted of smuggling cannabis and jailed for 10 years.

He launched an appeal against the conviction in August 2006 but is still waiting for a court date to be set.

In the House of Commons last Tuesday, Dartford MP Dr Howard Stoate raised his case with foreign minister Bill Rammell.

Dr Stoate said: “Mr Malluzzo’s family and I, together with Fair Trials International, have a number of serious concerns about the manner in which his trial was conducted and secondly about his treatment while in jail.

“Mr Malluzzo appealed against his sentence in August 2006 and is still waiting for an appeal date.

“We are hopeful a date will be confirmed very soon.

“In view of these concerns can I ask my right honourable friend to ensure once an appeal date is finally set, there is a British consular presence at his appeal?”

Mr Rammell offered to meet Dr Stoate to discuss the case further and promised to consider the MP’s request for a Government representative to assist Mr Malluzzo’s appeal.

Mr Malluzzo was arrested at Mumbai airport in January 2004 while waiting for a flight to Thailand to meet his girlfriend.

Indian police had found a bag containing cannabis and a ticket with his name on it on a train in November 2003.

But Mr Malluzzo, who was backpacking around India at the time, was not with the bag when police found it and claimed it did not belong to him.

His 60-year-old mother Teresa, of Upper Heath Lane, Dartford, says she and her husband Salvatore are struggling to cope.

She said: “It is like living a half-life as everything is put on hold.”

Mr Malluzzo, who had worked as an investment bank clerk in Britain, had planned to join the Army when he returned to Britain.

His appeal is being backed by the charity Fair Trials International, which provides legal assistance to people who have suffered a miscarriage of justice.