If you do the Crime ..Then do the Time

[tommy.irene]

Terrified British girls locked up in Peruvian hellhole jail for 'smuggling £1.5million of cocaine' are 'hysterical and have not eaten for seven days'

• Michaella McCollum Connolly, 20, and Melissa Reid, 19, are being held in a maximum security prison in Peru 
  
• Police say they found more than 11kg of cocaine in their luggage after they checked in for a 6,000-mile flight back to Spain
  
• Claims the pair may have been picked up by a South American cartel after they met holidaying in Ibiza 
  
• Twelve guards armed with rifles patrol the perimeter of the jail
• The pair are starving themselves while protesting their innocence 
  
• One guard described them as 'terrified and hysterical' 
  
• If one is found guilty for the entire haul she could be jailed for 25 years 
  
• The girls could face up to a year awaiting trial in Santa Monica Prison known to some of South America's most dangerous female criminals

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2389737/Terrified-Michaella-McCollum-Connolly-Melissa-Reid-l... 

[tommy.irene]

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@blackburn_stevie wrote:

Quick question for the lady posters.

Please take a look at the pictures of these girls taken at various times since they were stopped and accused.

Just look at them and tell me if you think that they managed to comb their hair and pluck their eyebrows into a perfect state if they were even half as worried as they should have been.

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You dont have to be a woman to see that they have 24 hours a day doing nothing.. so they try to keep tidy.. no TV,s or Jym or swimming were they are..  i hope they stay there to finish their jail sentence..

[pyrografica]

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@tommy.irene wrote:

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You dont have to be a woman to see that they have 24 hours a day doing nothing.. so they try to keep tidy.. no TV,s or Jym or swimming were they are..  i hope they stay there to finish their jail sentence..

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They're probably spending all that time trying to avoid getting raped and killed by all the other prisoners (and the guards)

[tommy.irene]

A legal expert has told UTV a Co Tyrone woman and her Scottish co-accused could still be sentenced to 15 years each, after prosecutors in Peru refused to accept their guilty pleas for attempting to smuggle drugs out of the country.

Michaella McCollum Connolly from Dungannon and Melissa Reid from Scotland were arrested at a Lima airport in August after authorities found cocaine thought to be worth £1.5m inside their suitcases.

The 20-year-olds pleaded guilty to drugs offences behind closed doors before a judge at Sarita Colonia prison on Tuesday.

It was thought this would mean they would receive a lighter sentence - but prosecutors have told them they want a full confession.

Stefano Lucatello, a leading expert on South American law, said he thinks the women may now face the longer jail term.

He explained: "This has not been seen well by the prosecution and the Peruvian authorities and quite clearly, having been sceptical, they now want to analyse the situation and see what the situation is.

"I am sceptical, as a lawyer, as to whether they may actually get a reduced sentence.

"I think the authorities will say that the two girls knew exactly what they were doing and exactly what they were carrying and at all times they sought to hide this from the authorities and now seek a more lenient sentence."

[aernethril]

They continue to shoot themselves in both feet.

They have now pleaded guilty, so there's no going back from that.

They've cynically used the media to try and manipulate outcomes and I would not be happy to see them return to the UK to serve their sentances - they'd be out in a couple of months and free to do what they like - including selling their very twisted stories for a huge sum.

I don't know if they realise the seriousness of their predicament.

If they don't spill the beans on all the contacts, they won't get a lighter sentance and they should not be going back to the UK any time soon.  They serve time in Peru which will always have them at risk of being nobbled if nothing else to make sure they don't spill the beans.

If they do sing like canaries to get a lighter sentance, whilst in Peru they are in even greater danger and even if and when they are repatriated, they will have to be looking over their shoulders for a very long time.

[tommy.irene]

But if their pleas are not accepted they could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

Mr Lucatello continued: "All I would say to them to co-operate with the authorities, to give the authorities as much information as they can as to the people they were instructed by to carry the drugs and to play very much into the hands of the authorities.

"I'm sure that behind the scenes there is a lot of diplomatic adulation, diplomatic to-ing and fro-ing, and it very much depends on what the authorities think.

"It may well very be that, for whatever reason, either the Irish authorities or the Scottish authorities don't wish them to come back to the UK or to Northern Ireland to serve their sentences, but we may never know the reasons why such a decision has ever been taken."

[tommy.irene]

UTV Live News – Latest stories, videos and pictures

HomeNewsWorld & Drugs

Peru pair 'very well' in prison

Published Tuesday, 01 October 2013

Peru two Michaella McCollum Connolly and Melissa Reid are doing "very well" in a modern prison, an Irish priest has said.

Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid, when they were stopped at Lima airport. (© UTV)

Father Maurice Foley visited the pair on Saturday where he found them sitting outside under a parasol, drinking coffee and making telephone calls.

The 20-year-olds pleaded guilty to drugs offences behind closed doors before a judge at Sarita Colonia prison last week.

It was thought this would lead to shorter jail terms at sentencing which was due to happen on Tuesday - but prosecutors have told them they want a full confession and have asked for a new hearing.

Fr Foley described the women's condition as "brilliant". "Very, very well," he added.

He said McCollum Connolly, from Co Tyrone and Reid, from Scotland, were not in a cell but at a table in a wide open yard.

They were transferred to a more modern, well equipped prison after spending time in harsh conditions at Virgen de Fatima Prison in Lima.

"As well as that, they had telephone communication and they could use it for calling home. I thought they were in great form actually," Fr Foley said.

McCollum and Reid had claimed they were held at gunpoint and threatened by a Columbian drugs gang to smuggle 24lb of cocaine, which was found hidden inside food packages in their luggage as they attempted to board a flight to Spain.

The women, who had been working on Ibiza, were told that they could face a minimum of six years and eight months with no eligibility for parole after pleading.

But if their pleas are not accepted they could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

The priest said he had warned Michaella that she shouldn't expect to serve anything as short as a year in prison, which made her very emotional.

He said that the girls didn't know any more on the drugs gang responsible to comply with the prosecutors' call for a more detailed confession.

"All they have is the name of a cockney Englishman by the name of Jake or Joe and that's no good," he said.