THE mother of a Blackwood man locked up in a notorious Indonesian prison because his “visa ran out” has pleaded for help in trying to get him released.

Mathew Davies, from the Cefn Fforest area, has been held in Cipinang Penitentiary Institution in the country’s capital Jakarta for around five weeks.

The high-security prison is well-known for in-house crime and drug problems.

The 25-year-old had travelled to Indonesia last year to start a job with a computer firm.

But his mother Yvonne Davies, 52, said his working visa must have run out and he had no money on him when the authorities locked him up.

His mother only found out about the severity of his situation after reading a smuggled message he wrote to a Welsh news outlet over the weekend.

Mrs Davies, of Waunborfa Road, said: “He told me they were keeping him in prison but he kept saying ‘Mam, do not worry, I am fine’.

“They have not even arrested him.

“I am waiting for the (British) embassy to come back to me but I have not got a clue what to do.

“I have not been in this situation before.

“I do not know who to turn to.

“He has been in prison now for one month and one week. Some of his friends have been bringing him food.

“I think his visa might have run out and he was trying to get some money but they caught him before he could get some.

“I hope he gets home soon. He does not deserve this. He is kind and a good boy.”

Mr Davies, a former Blackwood Comprehensive School pupil, went to Indonesia last May in search of a new life and more job opportunities.

His family said his initial job in computers did not work out and he was eventually running a restaurant before money became scarce once again.

Friends of Mr Davies in Indonesia have contacted his family in Wales claiming the archipelago’s authorities are demanding around £10,000 for his release.

Mrs Davies said: “He is locked up with murderers and rapists.

“I am not getting help from anyone (official). The people around me here have been great but I have heard nothing official.

“I am desperate for anyone who can help get him out of there to come forward.”

There have been calls for Preseli Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb, secretary of state for Wales, to intervene and take up the case.

A spokesman for the Wales Office said: “We will be responding.

“It will be via our minister Alun Cairns.

“There is a 15-day limit to respond but I expect it to be sooner.”

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are aware of the detention of a British national in Indonesia. We stand ready to provide consular assistance.”

Nobody at the Embassy of Indonesia in London was available to answer the Argus’ questions about the case yesterday.

But journalists in Indonesia were told yesterday by official sources there that Mr Davies had been arrested because he had been discovered working as a waiter without an appropriate visa.