Peru drugs: UK pair in court on smuggling charges

[webfact]

Peru drugs: UK pair in court on smuggling charges

CALLAO: -- Two women from the UK held on drug smuggling charges in Peru have been remanded in custody by a court.

Michaella McCollum, of Dungannon in Northern Ireland, and Melissa Reid, of Lenzie near Glasgow, who were refused bail by a judge in Callao, face a maximum term of 15 years if convicted.

They are accused of trying to take cocaine with a street value of £1.5m out of the country.

Ms McCollum's lawyer Peter Madden said both women would plead not guilty.

Mr Madden said it was a worrying time for the two women, who he said were effectively beginning to serve a prison sentence.

"Their main concern at the moment is that they may be separated, they may be sent to different prisons and they are both very concerned that that might happen," he said.

Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23776210


-- BBC 2013-08-22

[theblether]

I'm hearing that there's not a lot of sympathy for them in Scotland, people are not buying the "forced to be a drug mule" story.

I don't know how much of a difference that would make anyway even if they did believe it. Peru has plenty of foreign women behind bars already for the same offence. Some of them actually admit to being mules.

The days of pleading naivete are long gone. They're going to have to start naming names of the so called blackmailers but no doubt we'll get the "we fear for our lives" story then. Which would most likely turn into "they went voluntarily, here's photos of them cuddling the so called Mr Big at a pool party".

It used to be that you could call on Max Clifford to get you a sympathetic public hearing, but he's otherwise engaged just now.

To make it even worse, they'll be held in a brand new jail with a library among other things. That won't help with their book when they get out.

"Prison life was a nightmare, Jane Austen books were constantly out of stock, we had to do with Harry Potter instead"

I think they're in a bit of a pickle all round.

[Xonax]

And what has this to do with Thailand?

[Scott]

It's the World News Section.

[metisdead]

An off topic post has been removed.

[Basil B]

I'm hearing that there's not a lot of sympathy for them in Scotland, people are not buying the "forced to be a drug mule" story.

I don't know how much of a difference that would make anyway even if they did believe it. Peru has plenty of foreign women behind bars already for the same offence. Some of them actually admit to being mules.

The days of pleading naivete are long gone. They're going to have to start naming names of the so called blackmailers but no doubt we'll get the "we fear for our lives" story then. Which would most likely turn into "they went voluntarily, here's photos of them cuddling the so called Mr Big at a pool party".

It used to be that you could call on Max Clifford to get you a sympathetic public hearing, but he's otherwise engaged just now.

To make it even worse, they'll be held in a brand new jail with a library among other things. That won't help with their book when they get out.

"Prison life was a nightmare, Jane Austen books were constantly out of stock, we had to do with Harry Potter instead"

I think they're in a bit of a pickle all round.

"It used to be that you could call on Max Clifford to get you a sympathetic public hearing, but he's otherwise engaged just now. "

Well he is now, for the foreseeable future, just been sent down for 8 years...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27259318