A FAMILY in Chigwell has been left “devastated” following the execution of their relation in China.

Seema Khan, 54, of Bracken Drive, and her brother Latif Shaikh, 41, also of Chigwell, spearheaded the high-profile campaign to save their mentally ill cousin Akmal Shaikh after he was sentenced to death following a conviction for drug smuggling.

But despite international outrage, and the intervention of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Mr Shaikh was killed by lethal injection at 10.30am on Tuesday amid defiance by Chinese officials.

Ms Khan, who was extremely close to Mr Shaikh and spent her childhood growing up with him, was inconsolable with grief following his death, but a statement released by a representative on her behalf said: "The family express their grief at the Chinese decision to refuse mercy and thank all those who tried hard to bring about a different result."

Prior to his execution, she told reporters: “He's not rational and needs medication. A pardon would allow him to get the help he needs.

“We pray he will be reprieved. He'd never knowingly be involved in something like this.”

Mr Shaikh, a 53-year-old father of three, was caught with 4kg of heroin in a suitcase in the north western Chinese city of Urumqi in September 2007.

His family claim Mr Shaikh was exploited and tricked into carrying the drugs because of his bi-polar mental disorder, but a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in London said they had never received any evidence that Mr Shaikh suffered from mental difficulties.

Sally Rowen, of human rights charity Reprieve, which has been spearheading the campaign, said: "The death of Akmal Shaikh is a sad indictment of today's world, and particularly of China's legal system.

"Akmal was a gentle man who suffered from a tormenting illness. He slipped through the cracks of society and was betrayed and deliberately killed by one of the most powerful nations on earth.”

A Chinese Government spokesman said: "The amount of heroin he brought into China was 4030g, enough to cause 26,800 deaths, threatening numerous families.

"According to the Chinese law, 50g of heroin is the threshold for death penalty. It is important that the independence of the Chinese judiciary be respected.”