Drug mule Scot back home ‘within weeks’
Peruvian judge could grant her freedom
Cautionary tale of two traffickers who paid heavy price
CONVICTED drug smuggler Melissa Reid could be home within weeks – after spending more than two-and-a-half years in a South American prison.
The Peruvian judiciary has set a court date for the 22-year-old Scot’s expulsion hearing – at which a judge will be asked to rule if she can return to the UK.
The news comes just a week after Reid’s co-accused Michaella McCollum, 23, was granted parole by a court in Lima.
But while McCollum of Dungannon, Co Tyrone, must stay in the Peruvian capital, Reid, if successful, will fly back to her family in Scotland a free woman.
The pair were jailed in December 2013 after admitting trying to smuggle 24.2lb (11kg) of cocaine worth £1.5 million from Peru to Spain.
A judicial official confirmed last night that Reid’s hearing ‘would take place later this month’. If successful, she will not be required to serve any jail time in the UK.
Last night, Reid’s father Billy said at the family home in Lenzie, Dunbartonshire: ‘We have been waiting
‘I think they have been punished enough’
some time for a hearing and are hopeful we could finally get Melissa home. She has been left on her own now that Michaella is out. They were together from the start and this week has been hard for her.
‘We are worried about her and are just praying her case will be heard as soon as possible and have a positive result.’
Julio Magan, head of the Peruvian prison service, said: ‘The conduct of these two girls was punishable under our criminal code but I am for short sentences for people like them who are not heads of drug gangs.
‘They are just the people who are paid to transport the bags. They have been used and I do not think they will reoffend.
‘I think they have been punished enough. They have had good conduct in prison, doing study and work, and their reports are good.
‘Melissa has applied for expulsion and I would encourage Michaella to do so. [Parole] is faster but Michaella will have to comply with a set of rules and if she breaks them she could end up back in prison.
‘They are both first-time offenders and have completed a third of their sentence, so are eligible.
‘It is the state that suffers, having to pay for all these criminals. If people meet the criteria, we should wrap it up.’ THEY were inseparable following their arrests for drug trafficking in summer 2013.
Melissa Reid and Michaella McCollum, dubbed the Peru Two, spent almost every minute together as they came to terms with the prospect of a lengthy jail term in South America.
But they were separated last week when McCollum was granted a shock release from prison on parole after serving just over a third of her sentence.
Since then, the former model has been enjoying the bright lights of the Peruvian capital Lima – sporting a new wardrobe and dyed blonde hair as she wanders around the city’s trendiest district with mother Norah and her siblings.
McCollum has told friends she is ‘making the most of the time I have with my family’ while living in a luxury rented apartment in the Miraflores area of the city.
A promenade looking onto the Pacific Ocean is just short stroll from the property. McCollum has been spotted enjoying her newfound freedom, walking by the waves while enjoying a takeaway coffee.
In sharp contrast, her former cellmate Reid remains on basic rations of oatmeal, beans and rice at the notorious Ancon 2 prison.
In phone calls home to Scotland, she has told her family she is ‘happy for Michaella’ but confessed to being ‘lonely and worried’ about her own fate.
Temperatures in the desert jail two hours north of Lima can be sweltering and the women are forced to share space in cramped, eight-bed cells.
Unlike the newly chic McCollum, prisoners are barred from wearing black as it is the colour of the uniform of the Peruvian prison service. Miniskirts and high heels are also off limits as Reid and her fellow inmates spend their days in flip-flops, leggings and T-shirts.
The only luxuries the Scot receives are in grocery deliveries organised by her parents – and even then the focus is on keeping her supplied with bottled water and Corn Flakes.
It is understood Reid has been able to call McCollum’s new smartphone from prison, but her family are growing increasingly concerned for her wellbeing as she waits to hear her fate.
When McCollum’s family fly home to Northern Ireland next week, she will be staying with a 73-year-old Irish-American church missionary and his wife in their three-bedroom apartment in Miraflores. Bishop Sean Walsh of the Eastern Catholic Church of Lima put himself forward as her parole sponsor after visiting her at Ancon 2. But she has told friends she hopes it will only be ‘temporary’ to allow her to ‘find her feet’. She may move on to live with a group of young European women who were also recently released on parole.
McCollum will be paid the minimum wage – 800 Peruvian soles (£170) per month – by the bishop to carry out administrative and volunteer work.
He said: ‘This is only the second time I have acted as a sponsor but I felt compelled to help this young woman. She is a good person and is sorry for what she did. I attended the parole hearing and told them I would make sure she had a place to stay and work. She also stood up and spoke very well and showed she was repentant.
‘While she is in Lima she will have the Irish community here supporting her and looking after her and she can live with me as long as she wants.’
In an interview with Irish TV station RTE last week, McCollum said: ‘I was very naive, very insecure. I didn’t know how to say no and I kind of just followed along with it. I guess a part of me wanted to be something I’m not.
‘Obviously I regret the harm I have done and so much suffering I have caused to my family.
‘I made a decision in a moment of madness. I’m not a bad person and I want to demonstrate that I’m a good person.’
‘I made a decision in a moment of madness’