A backpacker released from an Indian jail hell has enjoyed an emotional return home.

Patrick Malluzzo is still behind bars, but is back in the UK following a prison transfer from Rajasthan.

And he has seen his parents for the first time in more than seven years, after being jailed for drug smuggling, a conviction the whole family strongly denies.

The 33-year-old former city worker, of Upper Heath Lane, Dartford, was flown to a London prison on Tuesday, February 1, but is set to be moved to another facility closer to his home.

He still has three years of his sentence remaining, but parents Teresa and Salvatore are hopeful he will be released before then.

Mrs Malluzzo said: "There is a long, hard road ahead for all of us but, at last, we can start the job of rebuilding our lives."

For the full story see this week's Dartford Messenger, out Thursday.