'Terrified' Teddy Bear Teacher Happy to Be Home

Shocked adventure-seeker got 'more than I bargained for'
By Lucas Laursen,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 4, 2007 5:15 AM CST
'Terrified' Teddy Bear Teacher Happy to Be Home
Gillian Gibbons, center, the British teacher jailed in Sudan for letting her students name a teddy bear Muhammad as part of a writing project, sits with her son John, left, and her daughter Jessica, right, shortly after arriving at London's Heathrow airport, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007. Gibbons, 54, jailed...   (Associated Press)

Safely home after a "terrifying" ordeal in a Sudanese jail for allowing a class Teddy bear to be named Muhammad, teacher Gillian Gibbons was delighted to be back with family today. "I went out there to have a bit of an adventure and I got more than I bargained for," quipped Gibbons, 54, as she landed at Heathrow Airport and thanked the two British Muslim peers who negotiated her pardon.

"I don't think anyone could have imagined it would have snowballed like this." Despite Sudanese protests calling for her whipping and even execution, the Liverpudlian said that until recent events she found the people "extremely kind and generous" and was sorry she had to leave. "I wouldn't like to put anyone off going to Sudan," she said. (More Britain stories.)

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