Deaf charity worker Ian Stillman was today spending his 575th day locked in an Indian jail. ADAM NICHOLS looks at the circumstances which led to his imprisonment

LENNIE Stillman celebrated his 23rd birthday alone in the foothills of the Himalayas yesterday, thousands of miles from the rest of his family and in the shadow of the prison that houses his father.

Since Ian Stillman was jailed last year, the young man has lived in a hotel close to Kanda jail, near Simla, and has become the only regular contact his father has.

The sole Englishman in the prison, Ian is profoundly deaf and has no one who can communicate with him. He also uses a false leg following a road accident six years ago.

His wife, Yesumani (known as Sue), is on the other side of the country with his autistic daughter, Anita, 20, struggling to maintain the charity the couple have spent their lives building to transform the lives of India's deaf.

Thousands of miles away, his parents keep in close contact from their York home, speaking regularly to Lennie and playing a part in an international campaign fighting to free him.

Ian's other family, the hundreds of deaf young people who have been taught independence by this remarkable man in his Nambikkai Foundation, miss him just as much.

"He fed us, clothed us, sheltered us, trained us and placed us in decent jobs," they say.

"He has dedicated his whole life to the welfare of the deaf and his absence has already affected us. We cannot survive without his help and guidance. He is honest, innocent, God fearing and frank."

Ian, now 51, was born with a weakness in his auditory nerve inherited from his father's parents, who were both profoundly deaf. Two years later, living in Africa, he contracted malaria and, miles from medical help, was given a massive dose of quinine, a life-saving prescription which his parents believe cost him his hearing. It began to deteriorate drastically until he became profoundly deaf.

"His old tutor told him, at the age of four, that he had to stand on his own feet in a hearing world," said his father.

"That is what he did. He is fiercely independent and determined."

In 1973, he demonstrated that. Eager to work with the deaf, he took a voluntary post at a charity in Madras, loaded up his motorbike and set off on a 42-day drive across Europe, the Middle East and Afghanistan into Asia.

"It was such a hair-raising adventure, but it was so typically Ian," said his father.

It was in Madras that Ian realised the poor quality of life that India's deaf were forced to endure.

"Ian came back here in 1974. He announced that he had met Sue, that he was going to marry her and that he was going back to start a workshop for the young deaf. They moved to the southern tip of India, bought some land and did that."

That was the birth of the foundation.

It was this work that took him up to the mountainous region of Himachal Pradesh in August, 2000.One night, after a meeting with contacts in the region, he was being driven in a taxi when he was stopped at a road block.

"Ian was bundled out of the car and arrested," said Mr Stillman.

"He had no idea what was being said because it was dark and he couldn't lip read, and he was being spoken to in Hindi, which he couldn't understand anyway.

"One police report says that he had a bag on his lap which held 20 kilograms of cannabis. Another said the bag was next to him, and another said it was in the boot. They don't even agree what colour the bag was."

"We had a call from our daughter, who asked if she could come to see us. We thought it was strange because we had just spent the day with her," said Ian's mother, Monica.

"Lennie had been in London and had seen his father on the television. We couldn't believe it, and our son-in-law, Jerry, went over to India to see if there was anything of it. He got there and saw Ian, who assured him he knew nothing about the accusations.

"Jerry promised him we would see this through, no matter how long it took. It has taken a very long time so far."

Last summer Ian was sentenced to ten years in prison. He had signed a statement written in Hindi, which he couldn't understand. It turned out to be a confession.

During the trial, he was never given an interpreter and he didn't get the chance to stand up and say "I didn't do it."

An appeal failed earlier this year. The judge ruled that he did not believe he was deaf.

The family are now attempting to have a further appeal lodged at India's Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, they have launched an international petition to collect support from thousands of people and highlight what is happening to Ian.

His sister, Elspeth Dugdale, is leading the campaign. "We have so many people looking at our website and we wanted something to physically show what the level of support is."

- The Ian Stillman website can be viewed at www.ianstillman.fsnet.co.uk.

Updated: 12:32 Thursday, March 28, 2002