THE MENTAL state of a North Yorkshire man facing the death penalty in India was today described as "extremely positive" by two friends who have just returned from visiting him in jail.

Peter Bleach, a former pupil of St Peter's School, York, formally of Fylingthorpe, near Whitby, was arrested in December, 1995, after the plane he was piloting was alleged to have parachuted ammunition and weapons into West Bengal.

The 46-year-old man is alleged to have been involved with an international smuggling ring, and faces a total of 12 capital charges,including attempting to wage war on India, which carries the death penalty.

The men, from the Midlands and Suffolk, spent two weeks in Calcutta, where Bleach is being held. Girlfriend Joanna Fletcher, who lived with Bleach for a number of years before his arrest, said the men were able to see him for several hours each day "more time than they had expected".

"They tell me he is in very good spirits and is hanging on," she said. "He is looking forward to the case getting under way, and is very hopeful he really is very positive about it all."

His trial, which has been adjourned more than 22 times over the last two years, is due to start again on Monday, June 1.

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