Eleanor Hawkins: British woman arrested for 'posing naked on Malaysia mountain' is 'scared and very upset', says father

Timothy Hawkins revealed tonight he had spoken to his daughter Eleanor Hawkins, 23, on the phone and she was very distressed.

He said: "We spoke to her this morning. She’s okay, she’s very scared, she’s very upset.

"She’s been arrested. It’s not a situation she’s been in before so it’s not good." The group of ten tourists have been blamed for causing a deadly earthquake after they stripped on Malaysia’s Mount Kinabalu

Ms Hawkins, from Derby, was detained on Tuesday at Tawau airport as she was flying from the island of Borneo to the capital Kuala Lumpur.

The Southampton university graduate is one of five Westerners being held and investigated for indecent behaviour on top of Mount Kinabalu on May 30.

They are believed to be part of a group of 10 who stripped naked at the peak and then took photos which were then circulated on social media. If they are found guilty of obscenity charges, they could face three months in prison.

The Westerners appear in a Malaysian court The act was blamed by Sabah deputy chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan for causing a subsequent 5.9 magnitude earthquake which killed 18 climbers last week.

Mr Hawkins, who runs a mechanical engineering business, said his daughter is "obviously in the photos" but he did not want the situation to be "blown out of all proportion".

"It’s fair enough to charge for the misdemeanour committed," he said. "What we don’t want is her lumbered with further charges."

He criticised the actions of an arrested Canadian – named in reports as 33-year-old Emil Kaminski – who is said to have circulated the photos and allegedly posted offensive comments on social media.

Mr Hawkins added: "What I will say is the guy stirring up a media storm – the halfwit Canadian guy – is not doing anyone any favours."

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