Christmas is a time when families across the world gather to celebrate, share laughter, and create memories. But for Lindsay and Craig Foreman, a British couple from East Sussex, this festive season marks nearly a year spent apart from their loved ones—detained in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison on espionage charges they and their family call utterly unfounded.
Their ordeal began in January 2025, when the couple, both in their fifties, set out on what was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime: a motorcycle journey from Spain to Australia. With valid visas, a tour guide, and a pre-approved itinerary in hand, they entered Iran, eager to explore its landscapes and culture. Instead, their trip was abruptly cut short. Iranian authorities arrested them, accusing them of spying for the British government—a claim their family describes as “ludicrous.”
Since then, Lindsay and Craig have been held separately in Evin Prison, a facility infamous for its overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and history of detaining political prisoners and foreign nationals. According to the BBC, the couple’s cells are vermin-infested, with rats scurrying around as they cook their meager meals. Washing facilities and hygiene supplies are inadequate, and there’s never enough food. “They are in unimaginable conditions,” Lindsay’s son, Joe Bennett, told the BBC. “They’ve lost a lot of weight because there isn’t enough nourishment. They’re eating rice and gristle every day. They can’t really exercise. It’s overcrowded and cramped.”
The lack of proper nutrition and medical care has taken a toll. Craig suffers from persistent dental pain but has not been allowed to see a dentist. Lindsay, meanwhile, is “suffering a lot with her skin and weight,” Joe explained to Sky News, attributing her health issues to the lack of ventilation and poor living conditions. The prison, which now houses as many as 15,000 inmates, is notorious for solitary holding cells without toilets or beds, and for the psychological pressure it exerts on detainees through prolonged interrogations and isolation.
Amid these harsh realities, Lindsay Foreman recently managed to share a deeply personal poem, titled “A Sad Voice From Evin Prison – A Christmas Poem.” In a recording sent to her son from a noisy corridor inside the prison, her voice—publicly heard for the first time since her arrest—carried the weight of her anguish. “At a time when we should be connected, we find ourselves alone, down, dejected,” she recited. The poem, addressed to her family and to “anyone who has lost someone and when Christmas may not be such a happy time,” speaks of a “family torn apart” and grief that “has made a home from the hole in our heart.”
“We wish that we could be together. To hug and hold each other forever,” Lindsay wrote, her words resonating with anyone separated from loved ones during the holidays. Joe Bennett, her son, said the poem brought a flood of emotion. “The calls make it slightly easier... the poem that has just been read out brings a lot of emotion,” he told the Evening Standard. Despite her efforts to put on a brave face during their rare phone calls, he has heard his mother cry and beg to come home. “Both my mother and step-father are being slowly broken,” he said. “It’s horrendous. They were the life and soul of Christmas.”
After months of sporadic contact, the couple went on hunger strike in November 2025—a desperate plea for help after feeling “let down” by the UK government, Joe revealed to Sky News. Since then, they have been permitted almost daily phone calls with family, but their situation remains dire. “We were told almost two months ago, when they last were in court, that a sentence would be passed in a couple weeks. We’re now two months down the line and nothing has happened,” Joe said, expressing frustration at the slow-moving judicial process and lack of clarity about their fate.
The couple has appeared in court several times but has not been officially convicted or tried. Their detention echoes that of other British nationals, such as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was also held in Evin Prison before her release in 2022 after the UK settled a decades-old debt with Tehran. The BBC and Independent note that Evin Prison has long been associated with human rights abuses, including overcrowding, inadequate medical care, and psychological pressure tactics—conditions confirmed by numerous former inmates and human rights organizations.
The Foremans’ plight has drawn international attention, with human rights groups and advocacy organizations urging diplomatic intervention and transparency. According to Mixvale, Lindsay’s poem has “drawn renewed international attention to the plight of dual nationals detained in Iran and the lack of transparency in their legal proceedings.” The British government, for its part, has stated its commitment to securing the release of its citizens arbitrarily detained abroad. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has raised the case with her Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchi, and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) continues to provide consular assistance and remain in close contact with the family.
Yet, for Joe Bennett and his family, this support feels insufficient. “It feels like they’re waiting for something. We’re at a bit of a stalemate right now—Iran are waiting for the UK to move, the UK are waiting for Iran to move, and stuck in the middle are my parents and us,” he lamented to Sky News. “I keep saying that we need to be being more accountable as a Government and speaking out. They are accused of espionage, spying for the British state, and yet that same UK Government won’t come out and defend them and say that they completely deny the allegations.”
Joe’s frustration is shared by many who see the case as an example of “arbitrary detention.” He told BBC Radio, “Once we take a stance as a nation and a Government and call it for what it is, which is arbitrary detention, hopefully there are mechanisms that can be unlocked at that point to be able to move the dial and the end goal is getting them home.”
The UK government, meanwhile, has reiterated its warning against all travel to Iran, especially for British and British-Iranian nationals, citing the “significant risk of arrest, questioning or detention.” A Foreign Office spokesperson told the BBC, “We are deeply concerned by reports that Craig and Lindsay Foreman have been charged with espionage in Iran. We continue to raise this case directly with the Iranian authorities.”
Lindsay Foreman’s brave decision to share her poem from within Evin Prison is more than a personal lament—it is a call for justice, transparency, and compassion. Her words, echoing through the walls of one of the world’s most notorious prisons, remind us that behind every headline and diplomatic cable are real people enduring unimaginable hardship. As Christmas arrives, the Foreman family’s hope remains that international pressure and persistent advocacy will finally bring Lindsay and Craig home, reuniting a family torn apart by forces far beyond their control.
