A British couple have endured more than 400 days of appalling conditions in an Iranian prison, with their son warning MPs that Lindsay and Craig Foreman are suffering from starvation, chronic medical neglect, and psychological torment. The couple, from East Sussex, were detained in January 2025 while on a world motorcycle tour and subsequently charged with espionage—a claim they deny.

They remain imprisoned at Tehran’s notorious Evin facility, infamous for overcrowding and harsh treatment of detainees. Ms Foreman described the ordeal to ITV News from the prison as “psychological torture.” 

She said: “I naively and ignorantly believed we would be safe,” citing their careful planning, including visas, an Iranian travel agent, and a tour guide. 

She added: “We kind of felt… there’s a risk of detainment, but how bad can that be? If we’re innocent people, why would they detain us?”

However, the reality has been starkly different. Joe Bennett, their son, told MP on Wednesday that his parents have been forced to sleep on concrete floors or metal bunks without mattresses and have lived in overcrowded, unsanitary, vermin-infested cells. 

He said they endured 57 days of solitary confinement and were unable to contact family for 213 days.

Mr Bennett said: “They have suffered a list of human rights abuses that is truly shocking. 

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“Our family and our parents are living and reliving these horrors every single day, and yet our Government’s reaction is to wait; to wait for quiet diplomacy, to wait for an unfair judicial process to unfurl, to wait and wait and wait.”

Mr Bennett described the couple’s health as deteriorating, with Mr Foreman reportedly in agony from untreated dental pain and both suffering chronic medical neglect. 

They have also been subjected to threats of execution and regularly forced into overcrowded cells following Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests.

Ms Foreman detailed the psychological strain of being allowed only brief, irregular meetings with her husband. Ms Foreman said: “We were promised three meetings a month… On more than one occasion, they cancel it at the last minute. 

“That is the most soul-destroying thing.” The couple has also faced repeated false hope of release, adding to the emotional toll.

Campaigners say the couple’s detention is “arbitrary” and have called on the UK Government to make their release a diplomatic priority. Mr Bennett has collected more than 60,000 signatures on an online petition and was joined last month by former detainee Anoosheh Ashoori and Richard Ratcliffe, who campaigned for the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, at 10 Downing Street. 

Mr Bennett said: “We want public acknowledgement that it is completely barbaric they are being held on these charges of espionage.”

Tony Vaughan KC, Mr Bennett’s MP, said the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) must escalate the case and formulate a strategic plan for the couple’s immediate release. Mr Vaughan said: “Waiting and seeing is no longer a strategy.”

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We remain deeply concerned that Craig and Lindsay Foreman have been charged with espionage in Iran. We continue to raise this case directly with the Iranian authorities. We continue to provide Craig and Lindsay with consular assistance and remain in close contact with their family members.”

The Foremans’ ordeal highlights the human cost of diplomatic inaction in the face of arbitrary detention. Mr Bennett warned that lessons from past cases show delays can extend the suffering of hostages for years compared to other Western governments’ interventions. 

Mr Bennett said: “We cannot allow ourselves to become desensitised. We cannot just sit and watch and wait while these terrible atrocities compound.”

With over a year spent in one of Iran’s harshest prisons, the couple’s plight underscores the danger faced by foreign nationals in politically sensitive detentions, raising urgent questions about the UK Government’s response and the prospects for their immediate release.