Amardeep Bassey, the Sunday Mercury journalist arrested in Pakistan last month amid spying allegations, has arrived back in the UK.

He was deported from Pakistan on Thursday night and arrived at London Heathrow this morning on a connecting flight from Dubai.

He had been held since May 10 after attempting to return to Pakistan from Afghanistan without the required exit stamp on his visa.

The 29-year-old, who is the Sunday Mercury’s investigations editor, had telephoned a colleague yesterday to tell them he had been freed from prison and that he was “OK” despite spending a month in three Pakistani jails.

Trinity Mirror group, which owns the Mercury, dismissed the spying allegations along with MPs, MEPs and the National Union of Journalists.

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