A six-year-old girl who found a message from a prisoner in China inside a Tesco Christmas card has said she "thought it was a prank".
Florence Widdicombe told Sky News "it was really weird" to find the note in the charity card.
The message read: "We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qingpu prison China. Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organisation."
Image:Tesco sells the Christmas cards to raise money for UK charities
Image:Qingpu Prison is near to Shanghai
Tesco said it was shocked by the find and had started an investigation, and has also stopped working with the Chinese factory where the card - decorated with a kitten wearing a Santa hat - was made.
The message inside named the former journalist Peter Humphrey as a contact, who spent two years in the same prison.
Advertisement
Florence, who lives with her family in Tooting, London, said: "I was sitting down at the table writing my cards to my friends when I opened one and started laughing because someone had already written in the card.
"Then I passed it on to my mum. It took an hour to get our heads round it because we thought it was a prank."
More from China
Her father Ben Widdicombe said he was unsure of the veracity of the message, but contacted Mr Humphrey.
He told Sky News: "After some reflection we thought that if someone was genuinely desperate enough to write that card we should take it seriously. When I tracked Peter down on the internet, I came across this story and it became very serious and quite chilling in a way."
Image:Ben Widdicombe says he's glad to bring the card to the attention of people who can help
Mr Humphrey said the message from Mr Widdicombe took him back to the "painful two-year period" when he and his wife were imprisoned over "bogus charges".
Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Humphrey said he did not know who wrote the message but had "no doubt" they knew him during his time in the prison, which is 62 miles (100km) from the Zheijiang Yunguang Printing factory where the cards are supposed to be made.
He said ex-prisoners had confirmed that inmates in the foreign prisoner unit "are being forced into mundane manual assembly or packaging tasks" - including packing Christmas cards and gift tags for Tesco for at least the past two years.
Mr Humphrey said prisoners also make packaging and tags for Western clothing and that he had seen the names of other high street brands on the tags when he was in the prison.
Image:Peter Humphrey was jailed after being accused of breaching privacy laws
Tesco donates £300,000 a year to the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and Diabetes UK from the sales of the cards.
A Tesco spokesman told Sky News: "We would never allow prison labour in our supply chain.
"We were shocked by these allegations and immediately halted production at the factory where these cards are produced and launched an investigation.
"We have a comprehensive auditing system in place and this supplier was independently audited as recently as last month and no evidence was found to suggest they had broken our rule banning the use of prison labour.
"If evidence is found we will permanently de-list the supplier."
Image:Tesco has halted production at the Zheijiang Yunguang Printing factory
Mr Humphrey said he did not believe British companies would "knowingly commission prison labour, but they may never be able to tell if their Chinese suppliers are sub-contracting production to the prison system".
He said auditors are not allowed into the prisons so there is "little chance of unravelling the secretive business arrangements that have turned the jail system into a lucrative profit centre for the Chinese state".
Image:The note allegedly came from prisoners in Qingpu's foreign prisoners' unit
A spokesperson for the British Heart Foundation Cancer Research UK and Diabetes UK said: "Like Tesco, we're shocked by these allegations. We are in touch with Tesco, who have assured us that these particular cards have been removed from sale, and that the factory producing them has been suspended while they investigate further. We await the outcome of Tesco's full investigation."
In 2017, Jessica Rigby, from Braintree, found a message in a Christmas card from Sainsbury's which read in Chinese: "Wishing you luck and happiness. Third product Shop, Guangzhou Prison, Number 6 District."
And in 2014, a woman in Belfast said she had found a note written in Chinese and wrapped inside a prison identity card inside some trousers from Primark.
The note, which had SOS at the top, claimed inmates at Xiangnan jail in Hubei, China, were forced to work 15-hour days producing clothes.
Primark said it regularly inspected its factories and "no prison or other forced labour of any kind was found during these inspections".
The captain of the Carnival Glory also confirmed an investigation into the cause of the accident, which the company currently believes was due to “spontaneous wind gusts and strong currents.”
“Dear Carnival Glory Guest,” begins the letter, which is attributed to Carnival Glory Captain Pero Grubjesic. “Welcome back from your day ashore. We hope you enjoyed your time in Cozumel.”
The Carnival Glory cruise ship, right, crashes into the Carnival Legend on Friday morning. The cruise line currently believes the collision was caused by “spontaneous wind gusts and strong currents.”
(Matthew Bruin/Reuters)
Grubjesic then apologized for that morning’s incident, which occurred as the Glory was “maneuvering” into its docking position, he said.
“A formal investigation is underway to confirm the cause of the accident, which we believe was due to spontaneous wind gusts and strong currents. The ship has been inspected by the required authorities and there are no issues that impact our ability to sail safely back to New Orleans.”
Grubjesic also confirmed that the six guests who presented themselves for medical examination following the collision had already been treated and released.
“Once again, we apologize for the disruption this may have caused,” Grubjesic wrote. “We will be extending a US$100, per stateroom, onboard credit to your Sail & Sign account.”
The ship itself stayed docked in Cozumel shortly longer than anticipated, Carnival says, to “complete some of our work.” Carnival Cruise Line also confirmed that guests planning to dine in the Platinum Restaurant dining area that evening would be accommodated, presumably as a result of the incident.
The ship left port in Cozumel on Friday evening at approximately 9 p.m. CST.
The initial incident, which Carnival is referring to as an allision as opposed to a collision (seeing as one of the ships was not actually moving at the time), took place on Friday morning at approximately 8:50 a.m.
Footage taken by onlookers shows the Carnival Glory maneuvering toward the dock alongside the Carnival Legend, scraping its stern against the Legend’s bow.
Carnival had initially received reports of one person injured while being evacuated from a dining area; five additional minor injuries were reported by Friday afternoon.
The Carnival Glory is due back in New Orleans on Dec. 22.
The captain of the Carnival Glory also confirmed an investigation into the cause of the accident, which the company currently believes was due to “spontaneous wind gusts and strong currents.”
“Dear Carnival Glory Guest,” begins the letter, which is attributed to Carnival Glory Captain Pero Grubjesic. “Welcome back from your day ashore. We hope you enjoyed your time in Cozumel.”
The Carnival Glory cruise ship, right, crashes into the Carnival Legend on Friday morning. The cruise line currently believes the collision was caused by “spontaneous wind gusts and strong currents.”
(Matthew Bruin/Reuters)
Grubjesic then apologized for that morning’s incident, which occurred as the Glory was “maneuvering” into its docking position, he said.
“A formal investigation is underway to confirm the cause of the accident, which we believe was due to spontaneous wind gusts and strong currents. The ship has been inspected by the required authorities and there are no issues that impact our ability to sail safely back to New Orleans.”
Grubjesic also confirmed that the six guests who presented themselves for medical examination following the collision had already been treated and released.
“Once again, we apologize for the disruption this may have caused,” Grubjesic wrote. “We will be extending a US$100, per stateroom, onboard credit to your Sail & Sign account.”
The ship itself stayed docked in Cozumel shortly longer than anticipated, Carnival says, to “complete some of our work.” Carnival Cruise Line also confirmed that guests planning to dine in the Platinum Restaurant dining area that evening would be accommodated, presumably as a result of the incident.
The ship left port in Cozumel on Friday evening at approximately 9 p.m. CST.
The initial incident, which Carnival is referring to as an allision as opposed to a collision (seeing as one of the ships was not actually moving at the time), took place on Friday morning at approximately 8:50 a.m.
Footage taken by onlookers shows the Carnival Glory maneuvering toward the dock alongside the Carnival Legend, scraping its stern against the Legend’s bow.
Carnival had initially received reports of one person injured while being evacuated from a dining area; five additional minor injuries were reported by Friday afternoon.
The Carnival Glory is due back in New Orleans on Dec. 22.
The Carnival Glory was "maneuvering to dock" when it hit the Carnival Legend, which was already docked in Cozumel, Mexico, Carnival CruiseLine said. Six guests with minor injuries went to the Carnival Glory medical center for evaluation.
The vessel set sail from the Cozumel port late Friday. It is expected to arrive at the Port of New Orleans at 6 a.m. Sunday, the Port of New Orleans website says.
"The ship has been inspected by required authorities and there are no issues that impact our ability to sail safely back to New Orleans," the Glory's captain, Pero Grubjesic said in a letter obtained by CNN that was provided to the cruise ship's passengers.
A formal investigation is underway to determine the cause of the crash, Grubjesic said in the letter. The cruise line believes the collision "was due to spontaneous wind gusts and strong currents," he wrote.
Carnival (CCL) describes the incident as an allision between the two ships. An allision is a nautical term used to describe when a moving ship collides with a stationary object, such as another ship.
As a result of the crash, the cruise line provided passengers with a $100, per room, onboard credit, the captain's letter said.
CNN's Dave Alsup and Paul P. Murphy contributed to this report.
