So there’s been an official application for that young drugs mule to serve her sentence in Scotland rather than Peru. How do these things work – are we the taxpayers expected to pick up the bill for her incarceration if she does return here, or does Peru pay us for enforcing their sentence?

Edit – send me down for 6-12 months for wrong forum offenses!

They serve their time in a UK prison and this is covered by UK budget, prisoners from overseas can also request to serve their sentence in their home country. Slightly different rules in scotland to do with the time to serve. The rules are;

You must be British or have close links with the UK (normally through permanent
residence).
? Your sentence must be final (i.e. you cannot be going through any appeal process
against your conviction or sentence in the country where you are detained). You can,
however, still apply, even if you have an appeal pending at the European Court of
Human Rights in Strasbourg.
? The offence for which you have been sentenced must also be an offence under UK
law (e.g. in some countries it may be illegal to possess/distribute alcohol, which it is
not in the UK).
? You must have a minimum time left to serve when you place your application, usually at least 6 months. In some cases a longer time is required – check with local consular staff or with the prison authorities.
? Outstanding financial penalties (fines) may be an obstacle to your application for transfer. As it would become difficult for the country you are held in to collect the fine
once you are back in the UK, they might want you to clear your fine before you leave. This can be a problem for people imprisoned in a country (such as France) where customs fines are imposed in addition to a prison sentence for drug-related offences.
? You can only be transferred if there is an agreement in place between the UK and the
country where you are imprisoned. Agreements are in place with the following
countries:
Albania*
Andorra*
Anguilla
Antigua & Barbuda
Armenia*
Australia
Austria*
Azerbaijan *
Bahamas
Barbados
Belgium*
Bermuda
Bolivia
Bosnia Herzegovina*
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Bulgaria*
Canada
Chile
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia*
Cuba
Cyprus*
Czech Republic*
Denmark*
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia*
Finland*
France*
Georgia*
Germany*
Ghana
Gibraltar*
Greece*
Grenada
Hong Kong
Hungary*
Iceland*
India
Ireland*
Israel
Italy*
Japan
Korea
Latvia*
Laos
Lesotho
Libya
Liechtenstein*
Lithuania*
Luxembourg*
Macedonia*
Malawi
Malta*
Mauritius
Mexico
Moldova*
Montenegro*
Morocco
Netherlands*
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Norway*
Pakistan
Panama
Peru
Poland*
Portugal*
Romania*
Russia*
St Lucia
Samoa
San Marino*
Saudi Arabia
Serbia*
Slovakia*
Slovenia*
South Korea
Spain*
Sri Lanka
Suriname
Sweden*
Switzerland *
Thailand
Tonga
Trinidad & Tobago
Turkey*
Uganda
Ukraine*
USA
Venezuela
Vietnam

I did know a couple who got 14 years each in a turkish prison – that would be a tad unpleasant!

Thanks. Seems a bit shabby that we have to pay and I’d be inclined to leave her where she is but I guess it evens itself out a bit if there are prisoners going both ways.

Can I ask what you would see as the purpose of leaving her there if the facility exists to bring her here?

Can I ask what you would see as the purpose of leaving her there if the facility exists to bring her here?

I reckon a lot of folk “here” get a bit moist at the thought of the suffering that prisoners endure in prisons “there”. (Not saying the OP necessarily thinks that, but with the kind of holiday camps we have “here” with playstations, xbox, the Interweb, Facebook and libraries, it’s no wonder some want to see them punished “there”.)

She committed the crime there, why shouldn’t she face the consequences of the Peruvian justice system? It doesn’t sit right with me that the some of the tax we all pay could be spent to make a criminal’s life more pleasant. And it’s hugely expensive to keep a prisoner behind bars, from a practical point of view, if someone else is paying for that already, why would we want to take over?

She committed the crime in that country adding to their misery caused by drugs and the associated violence and crime. She owes her debt of to the place she committed the crime. Justice has to be seen to be done.

Has nothing to do with money. Look at it in terms of crime and punishment

Apart from anything else it gives her mother and family a reasonable prospect of regularly visiting her. And prison visits are a long established recognised right.

Unless of course you think her mother and family should also be punished ?

The punishment is loss of liberty DD not a harsh prison environment. If we put as much effort into the lack of rehabilitation inside as we do to the “holiday camp” or “warehouse” they are attending the country might do a better job of reducing the recidivism in the prison population.

Prison where the crime has been committed IMO.

ernie_lynch – Member
Unless of course you think her mother and family should also be punished?

Doesn’t matter what I think, it’s the child that is punishing the parents.
💡

Doesn’t matter what I think

I wasn’t suggesting that it did.

ernie_lynch – Member

I wasn’t suggesting that it did.

A predictable response.
Now why don’t you take your bleeding heart and have a think about what
else I wrote?

That’s the trouble with the left, no sense of personal responsibility.

Now why don’t you take your bleeding heart and have a think about what
else I wrote?

I did. And I didn’t think much of it.

At least now she’s coming back to the uk, she’ll just become a regular prisoner and we won’t have to hear about her on the news all the time. I don’t particularly have a problem with prisoners being transferred back to the UK, maybe she’ll be able to learn something so that she won’t do something stupid when she finally gets out.
I always thought prison was supposed to be as much about rehabilitation as about punishment. After all why would you want to release time served people who have no useful skills for society?

but with the kind of holiday camps we have “here” with playstations, xbox, the Interweb, Facebook and libraries, it’s no wonder some want to see them punished “there”.)

Ah… accurate reporting there. No internet in prison (although there is discussion about very limited access to help prisoners prepare for the world beyond bars), certainly no facebook. No playstations or Xbox in cells – and I’m not sure they are even in communal areas. No idea why you would think a Library was a bad idea in a prison…

Apart from anything else it gives her mother and family a reasonable prospect of regularly visiting her. And prison visits are a long established recognised right.

and it is widely recognised that regular family contact is a key factor in helping prisoners rehabilitate and get back on their feet when they come out. Which is why:

from a practical point of view, if someone else is paying for that already, why would we want to take over?

since she will come back to the UK at the end of her sentence its in “our” interests to do everything we can to rehabilitate her so that in her mid-late 20’s she might make 50 odd years of useful contribution to society rather than having her returned so broken she is a burden on the state for the rest of her life – if you want to make it a purely economic issue.

It doesn’t sit right with me that the some of the tax we all pay could be spent to make a criminal’s life more pleasant.

I’m okay with chipping in my share to make a British citizen’s life a bit more tolerable, criminal or not. Apart from the compelling compassionate grounds, there’s probably a better chance of rehabilitation here. Or do you just think people should be punished harder and written off?

Or do you just think people should be punished harder and written off?

Judging by the public mood on this issue and a few on this thread, it would seem so. They are wrong of course. I guess we better build some more prisons then, at great expense, and get private firms to run them at great expense.

What about this angle then? If a Peruvian prison is “worse” than a UK prison, isn’t the fact that foreign nationals won’t have to serve their sentence in them less of a deterrent?

I’m more interested in the merits of transferring prisoners between justice systems than I am about how well our prisons do or don’t rehabilitate. Strikes me as odd that people can be treated differently in the eyes of the law – a Peruvian girl and a Scottish girl can commit the same crime in the same place at the same time but end up in very different prisons half a world apart.

Ah… accurate reporting there.

Apologies for the lack of a smiley. The inaccuracies were entirely intentional. 🙂

Who else had to look up “recidivism”?

Good word BTW – I’m gonna struggle to get that into a conversation, though 🙂

We should respect the views of the Peruvian people and government.

A formal application for repatriation has been made by the authorities in Peru to the Scottish Prison Service.

Lots of people airing their cosy western views without considering the victims.

Seems a bit shabby that we have to pay

Strikes me as odd that people can be treated differently in the eyes of the law

Make your mind up, are you troubled that people may be being treated inequitably or do you just want to save a few bob?

I don’t think the 2 views I expressed are mutually exclusive are they?

We should respect the views of the Peruvian people and government.

Isn’t that what this whole thread is about…..Peru agreeing to the transfer of a prisoner ?

Or are those who are expressing “cosy western views” suggesting that Peru should be forced to hand her over against their will ?

johnners – Member
It doesn’t sit right with me that the some of the tax we all pay could be spent to make a criminal’s life more pleasant.
I’m okay with chipping in my share to make a British citizen’s life a bit more tolerable,

But you don’t care about the peruvians?

ernie_lynch – Member
Apart from anything else it gives her mother and family a reasonable prospect of regularly visiting her. And prison visits are a long established recognised right.

I wonder if it would be more cost effective to fly her parents over there a handful of times a year or have her in a British prison?

But you don’t care about the peruvians?

The person in question was convicted of attempting to smuggle narcotics OUT of Peru, she was probably more helping poor Peruvians farmers get their produce to market than causing them much harm. The “victims” tend mostly to be in Western countries such as the UK.

If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.

It amazes me that some people still hanker after a life of crime then cry pity tears when they get caught.

It amazes me that some people think we should pity them for their life choices.

Afterall, they chose to do the crime.

So with that you support crime?

The reason the Peruvians are willing to send the criminal back here is purely down to the bad press they will receive for the conditions and incarceration this person is being subject to, for committing a crime. A crime that if gone unnoticed and they had gotten away with it would have made these peoples lives (who committed the crime, once sold the goods/drugs) I’d say far better off yet at the same time made many more lives fall deeper into a pit of dispare and continue the ever decreasing circle of drugs supply and demand.

You can not bring into the equation the parents view, it’s the person that committed the crime that should be forced to pay the price back to society, in this case Peruvian society.

It’s not even a sad story, they knew exactly what they were doing when they chose to break the law.

The reason the Peruvians are willing to send the criminal back here is purely down to the bad press they will receive for the conditions and incarceration this person is being subject to, for committing a crime.

You say that as if it’s fact, and not conjecture. Is there evidence that this is why the Peruvians want to send her back?

Strikes me as odd that people can be treated differently in the eyes of the law – a Peruvian girl and a Scottish girl can commit the same crime in the same place at the same time but end up in very different prisons half a world apart.

Peru has no interest in the humanitarian angle it is just after saving a few quid. I thought you would commend them.

Once sentenced they have different choices of prison due to nationality Its no that hard to see why we only allow our citizens to come to our prisons and work out why they dont allow their citizens to go abroad.

they chose to do the crime

The women had reportedly told the Peruvian authorities they were working in Ibiza and did not meet before they were both kidnapped at gunpoint and forced to travel to Majorca.

They claimed they were then sent to Peru and forced to carry the drugs in their luggage.

Its not like drug dealers would bully threaten or force vulnerable young females to do this now is it …there such a nice bunch of thugs those dealer dudes.

There seems a lot of folk who have no empathy for other folk in shitty situations.

Yeah, and people would never lie once caught to try and get out of it would they?

Peru has no interest in the humanitarian angle it is just after saving a few quid.

😕 Are you being serious ? If so, have you got any proof to back up that quite remarkable claim ?

The women had reportedly told the Peruvian authorities they were working in Ibiza and did not meet before they were both kidnapped at gunpoint and forced to travel to Majorca.

They claimed they were then sent to Peru and forced to carry the drugs in their luggage. & you believe that one do you?
What bugs me is the way the BBC Scotland news reports on this & calls her ‘Melissa’ as if she is some sort of victim 🙄

Are you being serious ?

No , is it not obvious?

& you beieve that one do you?

Are you claiming it never happens?

What bugs me is the way the BBC Scotland news reports on this & calls her ‘Melissa’ as if she is some sort of victim

What they are actually using her name when talking about her that really is **** outrageous

No , is it not obvious?

Obviously it wasn’t to me. At least I wasn’t sure. Fair enough

I was taking the piss out of those who said leave her there to save money…perhaps i did not do it very well.

perhaps i did not do it very well.

Perhaps you did it too well !

What they are actually using her name when talking about her that really is **** outrageous

Just like the way they now say ‘Sir Jimmy’ when they refer to a certain sex abuser.

She hasn’t been convicted of child abuse. I doubt many people are “horrified” by her crime. Try and keep some sort of perspective. Although to be fair the obvious solution for you would be to switch over to Sky News or ITV where presumably they only refer to her as Ms. Reid.