Toy row teacher speaks of ordeal

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Gillian Gibbons, the British teacher jailed in Sudan for allowing a class teddy bear to be named "Mohammed" has spoken for the first time about her ordeal after arriving back home in England.

An Emirates airlines plane carrying the 54-year-old touched down in the dark at London's Heathrow airport at around 0700 GMT (0205 ET) according to a CNN reporter on the flight.

Gibbons was sentenced to 15 days in jail last Thursday after a member of school staff complained to the authorities after she allowed her students at a private school to name a Teddy bear after the Muslim prophet.

Asked if she had been shocked by the punishment handed out to her, she said: "I am just an ordinary middle-aged primary school teacher. I went there to have a bit of adventure and got a bit more than I bargained for."

Gibbons, smiling and gripping the hand of her son John in the arrival lounge at the airport, said she was overwhelmed by the support she had received from British officials, friends and well-wishers.

Her release came after two British Muslim lawmakers, Sayeeda Warsi and Nazir Ahmed -- both members of the House of Lords -- persuaded the Sudanese government that letting Gibbons go free would create international goodwill toward their country.

Gibbons thanked Warsi and Ahmed and also paid tribute to former colleagues at the Unity High School in Khartoum whose support she said had been "legendary."

Gibbons arrived back in England after she was granted a presidential pardon Monday. She was arrested after a former secretary at her school complained to the authorities, apparently in retaliation for being dismissed from her job, Sudanese officials told CNN.

Her conviction for blasphemy could have seen her sentenced to 40 lashes. Without a pardon, she would have remained in jail another six days.

"Common sense has prevailed," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said after her release was announced.

Gibbons was expected to travel home to the northern English city of Liverpool accompanied by her family.

The teacher said she did not want her experience to put people off visiting Sudan where she said she had a "fabulous time" and which she described as an "extremely beautiful place."

"In fact I know of a lovely school that needs a new Year Two teacher," she said.

Asked what she thought about her sentencing she said it was "a very delicate area."

"I was very upset to think that I might have caused offense to people," she added.

She said her immediate plans now were to spend Christmas with her family and then to look for a teaching job in the New Year.

CNN reporter Wilf Dinnick, who accompanied Gibbons on the second leg of her flight from Dubai to London, said the atmosphere among Gibbons's delegation was somber. British officials travelling with Gibbons told CNN she was exhausted and the teacher was moved up to first class to allow her to get some sleep.

She was accompanied by a security guard for the duration of the flight and did not speak to reporters during the journey.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir granted her a presidential pardon earlier Monday, and she left the country hours later under court order.

Sudanese courts ruled she should be deported after completing her sentence.

The efforts to secure her release were complicated by pressure from Sudanese hard-liners for her to complete her 15-day sentence.

Source : CNN.com

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