FOREIGN Secretary Jack Straw has met his Indian counterpart to press the case of jailed deaf charity worker, Ian Stillman.

Mr Stillman, 51, whose parents live in York, has been in prison in India for more than two years after being convicted of possessing cannabis - an offence which he strongly denies.

Jack Straw's meeting with the Indian foreign minister, Yashwant Sinha, comes as family and friends of Mr Stillman have sent off a 200 page document calling for a Presidential Pardon.

His father, Roy, said from his home in Tadcaster Road: "We hope that things will begin to move again after a long period of waiting."

Mr Ian Stillman, who set up a charity to help deaf people in India, was arrested in August 2000 as he looked at ways of expanding his charity in the north of the country.

Police said they found 20kg of cannabis in a public taxi he was travelling in, which they claimed belonged to him.

At his trial in March last year, the charity worker was denied a deaf interpreter and the hearing went ahead in Hindi, which he does not speak.

The court refused to believe that he was deaf, and judges at the High Court and subsequent Supreme Court hearings rejected his appeal on the same grounds.

Since his arrest, his family has campaigned tirelessly for his release.

More than 61,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Indian authorities to free him.

Mr Stillman's family fear for his health as he has diabetes and lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident seven years ago.

Mr Straw raised concerns about his plight in June with Home Minister Kal Advani and has now highlighted his case with the new foreign minister.