The sister of a British prisoner jailed in Bermuda says he is being discriminated against due to his nationality, despite Bermudians having British status themselves.

Karon Goldman says her brother is not allowed parole, despite Bermudian prisoners being given this right after a third of their sentence. Instead he must wait until his release date in 2011 before he can return to the UK.

Martin Cashman, 55, was jailed for 11 years in February 2004, for importation of heroin. The 55-year-old has been imprisoned for five years but will only be released after he has completed two-thirds of his sentence.

Mrs. Goldman, 51, told The Royal Gazette: "Because Martin is classed as a foreigner, they won't give him the same human rights as Bermudians.

"It's a crazy situation that Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory, yet a British citizen is seen as a foreigner.

Mrs. Goldman, a market trader from London, questioned why there was not a reciprocal agreement between the UK and Bermuda to parole prisoners back to their countries on a voluntary basis.

"My brother is being discriminated against. If you're a Bermudian national you are paroled after a third of the time, but if you're British you are denied the same rights.

"Bermudians are now classed as British citizens, so why is a British citizen in Bermuda discriminated against and treated as a foreigner? This is not only wrong but it almost seems racist."

She said: "Do the taxpayers of Bermuda realise they are keeping prisoners in prison because the Government refuses them parole?

"If my brother was allowed the same conditions and was deported after a third of his sentence, this would save the Government thousands of dollars.

"Martin has served over five years now but the Government refused him parole, even when the parole board here in England said they were prepared to oversee his probation here, albeit on a voluntary basis."

Cashman, a London taxi driver, was convicted of importing $484,200 worth of heroin into Bermuda.

The married father-of-two was arrested on October 5, 2003, after airport Customs and Police officers found 498.31 grams of heroin laced with Diazepam concealed in 16 laminated pictures.

During his trial Cashman claimed a family friend – Norman Fraser – had given him the pictures to give to friends in Bermuda.

Mrs. Goldman said her brother's imprisonment had "devastated" his wife Maria and two songs, Niklaus, now 27, and Adam, 23.

"It's affected all of us as we're a very close-knit family," said Mrs. Goldman. "He always maintained his innocence. He was duped."

She said the family is now exploring legal options through a human rights barrister in the UK.

"The QC says the situation is a breach of his human rights," said Mrs. Goldman. "In the UK, Bermudian prisoners are treated the same as UK and EU prisoners.

"Martin has got no complaints about his prison treatment but he is fed up, he just wants to come home.

"He can't understand why he's being treated differently to someone with the same passport as him. It's a very frustrating situation for all of us."

A Government spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said yesterday: "There are no mechanisms in place for foreign prisoners to be monitored in their home countries, to which they are deported immediately upon release from our prison, if they get parole.

"Mr. Cashman and his family have been advised of this several times."