Moves under way to do a deal on Scottish jail term

COMFORTLESS: A still from the video, main picture, in which Melissa gazes blankly through the bars that imprison her – her once-long blonde hair cropped to a dark bob. Top: The women’s wing of the Peruvian desert jail where she and Michaella are being held INTERNATIONAL negotiations are under way to thrash out exactly how long drug mule Melissa Reid will have to spend in jail in Scotland.

She is hoping to be transferred from Peru to her home country to serve the remainder of her six year, eight month sentence for cocaine trafficking.

But her request cannot be granted until a sentencing deal has been agreed with the Peruvian authorities.

In accordance with the European Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, receiving countries are required to enforce the sentence handed out overseas.

But as Scotland does not have an equivalent drug trafficking charge, the rules state the sentence can be adapted to the ‘nearest’ suitable punishment.

The maximum penalty for someone convicted of being concerned in the supply of a controlled substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in Scotland is life imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

But the fact that Melissa was relatively ‘low down’ in the supply chain will be taken into account, according to a source, who added: ‘Miss Reid would find she qualified for certain benefits she does not have in Peru. It is likely she would spend less time behind bars.’