DRUG mule Melissa Reid has been reunited with her family in Scotland after spending nearly three years in a Peruvian jail.
The 22-year-old arrived back at Glasgow from Amsterdam at about 9.45pm on Wednesday night after the long journey from Peru’s capital Lima, following her release and expulsion from the country on Tuesday.
Theoretically Reid, from Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire, should be able to make a fresh start as she will not have a criminal record in the UK following her conviction for attempting to smuggle £1.5 million of cocaine, with another woman, out of Peru in 2013.
A relative thanked Reid’s supporters in a message on their Facebook page. The statement read: “To everyone who has taken the time to message me or post on the page I send my heartfelt thanks. This page has been amazing and brought me in touch with so many kind-hearted people.
“I know Melissa will be so touched when I show her all the love and support you have shown for her and the Reid family over the last couple of years.”
However, a leading lawyer criticised the Scot and her co-conspirator Michaella McCollum, 23, claiming they now believed they were celebrities.
Stefano Lucatello, a senior partner at London-based Kobalt Law, told Talk Radio: “I think a lot has been made out of the media publicity and they think they’re stars now.”
Reid and McCollum, from Dungannon, County Tyrone, were jailed for six years and eight months after admitting the offence. But in an interview earlier this year with TV channel RTE, McCollum said it had been a “moment of madness” and added that she deserves a second chance.
Mr Lucatello added that during the interview, it was his view that McCollum “came across as false”.
He continued: “The other [Reid] has taken a much more low-key approach, but I have no sympathy. I don’t condone any of the media attention these two have had. They knew exactly what they were doing, however young they were.”
In May, a judge granted Reid’s expulsion under an early release scheme for deporting first-time drug offenders.
Earlier, Janeth Sanchez, a spokeswoman for Peru’s prison service, said Reid had, “served her time...and can now go to her country, free."
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel