‘I BETRAYED THE PARENTS WHO GAVE ME EVERYTHING:
NOTHING in her comfortable, middle-class upbringing suggested she would end up on the wrong side of the law – let alone locked in a South American prison guilty of international drug trafficking.
Brought up in the leafy commuter town of Lenzie, six miles north-east of Glasgow, her hardworking parents ensured that she, her older brother Liam and younger sisters Jennifer and Stephanie wanted for nothing.
The family home is a £400,000 luxury detached villa on a new-build estate and the Reids treated their four children to yearly summer holidays in the sunshine.
At Lenzie Academy, where Melissa was a pupil from 12-17, she was said to be a polite, popular and funny girl who had a part-time job in a sports shop.
In her spare time, she was involved in her local drama group, the Kirky Players – taking the starring role as Calamity Jane at the Mitchell Theatre in Glasgow.
After leaving school at the end of fifth year, she worked at Scottish and Southern Energy, then as a sales assistant in Next, but it was in nursing that Melissa’s long-term aspirations lay.
She even hoped to join the Army to complete her nursing training in the field.
Her father Billy said the biggest problem that any of the children had given their parents was having ‘a couple too many drinks’.
Their time as a regular, happy family came to an abrupt end in August 2013 when the eldest daughter who they had always thought was a ‘good girl’ was caught redhanded with a suitcase filled with cocaine.
Now Melissa has expressed her gratitude for the unwavering support of her parents Billy and Debbie – who she admits could have turned their backs on her.
She has also spoken of her relief and joy after finally being reunited with her siblings, whom she has not seen since before she left for Ibiza three years ago.
As well as three Christmases and dozens of birthdays, Melissa missed out on brother Liam’s wedding to his childhood sweetheart Nicola in February 2014.
Last night she said: ‘I have put my family through so much and I really am so sorry.
‘The worry and the anguish they went through from when I was arrested until last week was awful and it was all my fault.
‘I can’t thank them enough for what they have done for me and the way they stuck by me. They could have turned their back on me and left me to deal with it but they didn’t.
‘I realise now that I took my family for granted. I took for granted being able to see them and eat dinner with them and give them hugs.’
The 22-year-old’s voice faltered and tears rolled down her face when she admitted: ‘My parents worked so hard to give me and my brother and sisters everything, an amazing childhood and a lovely home… and this was how I repaid them.
‘I remember when I was given the chance to call my family from the police station, to tell them what had happened, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
‘I knew once I heard my mum’s voice I would break down. How do you find the words to tell the person you love so much that you have let them down?
‘I couldn’t even speak at that time. It all fell down on me. I had been living a lie and thought I could get through it, but the minute I was caught it all came into focus.’
She recalls her father attempting to persuade her to go to Ibiza for just a week or two, but she recalls how she brushed his advice aside. As her mother kissed her goodbye, her parting words were: ‘Enjoy yourself – but take care.’ Melissa reflects: ‘Looking back now, I know I wasn’t in a good frame of mind.
‘It wasn’t me – I had lost sight of who I was and who I was raised to be. I thought that I was invincible and that I was able to handle anything.
‘I thought that my life would always be OK and that my mum and dad would always look after me. They gave me a wonderful, safe, happy childhood and I took it all for granted and thought nothing bad would happen to me.
‘I’m a Daddy’s girl and have been lucky to have had an easy life, thanks to the hard work of my parents.
‘I was very naïve and didn’t think about the consequences of my actions.
‘I lived for the day and didn’t take life seriously enough.’
She added: ‘There are other girls like me. I think I could be any girl, anyone’s daughter.
‘I hope that people see what happened to me, and realise that it is not worth it.
‘I met some women in there who had been caught with drugs two or three times.
‘They had put themselves through it again, despite everything, because they were so desperate for money.
‘I am glad that I am not in that position and always had my family support.
‘Thanks to my family, I got through it.’
‘I’ve put my family through so much’