New charges for Gambia missionary

The Fultons are serving a one-year sentence with hard labour

A British man serving a one-year prison sentence for sedition in the Gambia has appeared in court to face new charges.

David Fulton, 60, who was working as a missionary in the West African nation, has now been charged with forgery and impersonating an officer.

He could face an additional one-and-a-half years in prison if convicted.

Fulton was sentenced in December with his wife after they admitted sending e-mails critical of the country's government to friends back home.

Now prosecutors say that Fulton gave a false administration number "with intent to defraud" and falsely presented himself as a military officer by wearing a military uniform in 2007 and 2008.

The judge suspended the case until 3 March after Fulton - a former army major who worked as a chaplain to the Gambian army - asked for an adjournment to speak with his lawyer.

His wife Fiona, 46, looked after terminally ill people and visited women in their homes and in hospital.

The jailed couple, who had been in the Gambia since 1996, sent their two-year-old adopted daughter back to the UK earlier this month.

They have apologised publicly and pleaded for clemency from Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh.

Whilst the Gambia is a popular destination for British tourists, it has an appalling human rights record and criticism of the authorities is not tolerated, says our West Africa correspondent, Will Ross, in Ghana.