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| Peru drugs suspect could get two years for guilty plea, says lawyer | Peru drugs suspect could get two years for guilty plea, says lawyer |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The lawyer of the Northern Ireland woman arrested at Lima airport with £1.5m worth of cocaine has confirmed his client would only spend two years in jail if she pleads guilty. | The lawyer of the Northern Ireland woman arrested at Lima airport with £1.5m worth of cocaine has confirmed his client would only spend two years in jail if she pleads guilty. |
| Peter Madden also warned that if Michaella McCollum Connolly continues to plead not guilty she will spend two years in a Peruvian prison before the trial starts. | |
| "The Peruvian system is geared towards people pleading guilty to their offences or 'recognising their guilt'," he told RTE's Morning Ireland radio programme on Wednesday. | "The Peruvian system is geared towards people pleading guilty to their offences or 'recognising their guilt'," he told RTE's Morning Ireland radio programme on Wednesday. |
| If [the two girls] take that course they could share just over two years' imprisonment, whereas if they go to trial it will be two years before the trial even starts." | |
| McCollum Connolly and Glaswegian Melissa Reid were detained after the discovery of 24lb (11kg) of cocaine hidden inside food packages as they attempted to board a flight from Lima to Madrid. | McCollum Connolly and Glaswegian Melissa Reid were detained after the discovery of 24lb (11kg) of cocaine hidden inside food packages as they attempted to board a flight from Lima to Madrid. |
| The pair deny willingly working as "drug mules" and insist they were forced to carry the bags by armed men after they were kidnapped in Ibiza. | The pair deny willingly working as "drug mules" and insist they were forced to carry the bags by armed men after they were kidnapped in Ibiza. |
| Madden, who has just returned from Peru, said his clients could face up to nine years after the trial starts. | Madden, who has just returned from Peru, said his clients could face up to nine years after the trial starts. |
| "They are frightened. They are unsure of their future. They are in a prison in which they are the only two foreigners," he told the programme. | "They are frightened. They are unsure of their future. They are in a prison in which they are the only two foreigners," he told the programme. |
| Both women are being held in a classification unit at the Virgen de Fatima jail in Lima, which houses some of the country's most dangerous criminals. | Both women are being held in a classification unit at the Virgen de Fatima jail in Lima, which houses some of the country's most dangerous criminals. |
| The lawyer said they had been well treated by the authorities, but acknowledged conditions inside the jail were harsh. | The lawyer said they had been well treated by the authorities, but acknowledged conditions inside the jail were harsh. |
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