to think you don't bring 290 tramadol tablets to a foreign country if they aren't even yours

[pisacake]

www.thesun.co.uk/news/4838770/holiday-brit-arrest-jail-tramadol-prescription-pill/

"Laura flew to Hurghada airport on October 9 for a fortnight stay with hubby Omar, 33. They met four years ago and she jets out to see him four times a year.

He suffers back pain after an accident, so she took 29 strips of tramadol, each containing ten tablets, plus some Naproxen given to her by a pal.

In Britain tramadol is prescription only, but it is banned in Turkey where addicts use it as a heroin substitute.

A pill sells for 8p — meaning Laura could have made just £23.20 even if she wanted to."

It's an opiate so obviously a controlled drug with a very high abuse potential. Some countries you'd get arrested even if you had a prescription.

[FruitCider]

I have no problem with sentencing if that is what the law is but I've always thought uk prisoners should be allowed to serve their sentences at home. I am sure lots will disagree though

I disagree. I’m rather pleased that British born terrorists are not allowed to do their time in British prisons and Brain wash prisoners over here..

[SlipperyLizard]

DH went to Poland last year and at the time was taking codeine on prescription after an op. As he could ”prove” they were prescribed (the repeat happens automatically so no physical evidence) we decided he was best off taking none and getting medicine with codeine in over there if he needed it.

Tramadol is a class c drug in the UK, to assume you can take hundreds of tablets to another country is either incredibly naive (to the point that travelling abroad is probably not a good idea), or you’re hoping you won’t get caught.

I suspect the latter was the case here.

[mistyweather]

bullshit

[ButchyRestingFace]

She was very lucky to get only 3 years.

I agree. They were talking of any sentence up to and including the death sentence initially.

Obviously she’s stuffed on a number of fronts.

I wonder what would have happened to a person who claimed they didn’t know Tramadol was a banned substance in Egypt (how are you supposed to know?) but had the drug legitimately on prescription and, rather critically, had only enough for the length of their trip?

I wonder if that person would perhaps only have the contraband confiscated, and be allowed to continue their trip? Or be deported without charge?

Boohoo! Those silly bints from the UK spent 5 years in Peru for drugs and even they got off lucky

Lesd than that, surely? They were caught in 2013 and home and getting stalked by the Daily Mail for summer 2016.

[expatinscotland]

I don't have sympathy, no. Her dad said she was doing him a good turn. 300 tablets. It's A LOT.

Whether or not it's a sub for heroin is by the by. It's a banned substance there. Might be used to cut the smack, but who knows? It's banned.

She was very lucky to get only 3 years.

Boohoo! Those silly bints from the UK spent 5 years in Peru for drugs and even they got off lucky.

[ButchyRestingFace]

I was watching the interview with her stupid sister being disingenious. ”How can they send her to prison just for being kind?”, she wailed repeatedly.

Er, no. They’re not sending her to jail for “being kind”. They’re sending her to jail for attempting to bring large amounts of a banned substance into the country.

The conditions in Egyptian gaols look primitive but I can’t imagine the native Egyptians enjoy their time spent incarcerated so there’s no reason she should get a Princess-and-the-pea ride for committing a crime on their soil.

I imagine a reduced sentence/deportation will be wangled but I’m wholly lacking in sympathy.

[Teddypicker5]

I have no problem with sentencing if that is what the law is but I've always thought uk prisoners should be allowed to serve their sentences at home. I am sure lots will disagree though

[Katinkka]

Hmm she’s from my town so I hear a lot about this. Personally, I think she’s suffered enough and I do have sympathy for her. I do think she was wrong and stupid but 3 years in an Egyptian prison. I feel for her.

[FruitCider]

Tramadol is not used as a heroin substitute by heroin addicts,?very poor reporting by The Scum.

Misses point of thread completely

[notapizzaeater]

Is her friend getting prosecuted over here for supplying and waistline Nhs resources
? She must be bloody mad, it's not like she. Oils to look and see if they where illegal. Just because she has a "glamorous life" does not mean she is not a drug dealer.

[delilahbucket]

Another one who offers no sympathy here. She was apparently given these tablets by a friend. I struggle to believe any of what her or her family have said. Saying she's just naive and stupid doesn't cut it.
I was prescribed these a few years ago. Aside from them being horrible and I don't know how I functioned on them (coming off them was horrendous), when I went to the gp for more I couldn't just get them on repeat, they had to monitor what I was taking to make sure I wasn't taking more than the specified dose. With each prescription, a date was put on there for when I would be allowed more. The only time I was allowed to change that date was if I was going away. So all that being said, if they were obtained by prescription, then it was likely to be calculated and a doctor deceived.

[RadicalFern]

I don't have any sympathy. She's either been obtaining these pills illegally by buying them from someone, or fraudulently by getting them prescribed over several months (I think 224 is the max you could possibly get prescribed in a month).

[EB123]

I think she has been very lucky to get three years and not used as anew example with the case having had so much coverage in the UK.

[Heatherjayne1972]

Very little sympathy here
In another country you obey their laws and if you don’t/ can’t then you are subject to that country’s legal system
Ignorance is no excuse

[ofcoursehesthefuckingfarmer]

I'm local and sick of the local rag publishing constant stories about this.
She's guilty as sin and I doubt its the first time she's done it. Her family seem to think because they're "glamorous" she shouldn't be punished for drug smuggling.
She's lucky she only got 3 years.

[Ghostontoast]

After 3 horrendous years in an Egyptian jail hopefully this foolish lady will have wised up.

After suffering from digestive troubles, malnourishment and the brutality of prison she’s going to be the shadow of herself when she’s released and I can’t see hubby sticking by or even visiting her.

[expatinscotland]

She was stupid. I think she was selling them over there. As far as getting so many here, it's easily done, IME. Even in the US, they prescribe them by the bottle quite easily. My mom had her gallbladder out and they gave her a load. They don't hardly touch the sides for me so I can't imagine their being a sub for heroin.

[Rossigigi]

No one could be that dull taking that many pills in. I'm surprised the sentence was not longer to be honest, to prove to others that they will no tolerate drug smuggling (because that is what it was).

[dinosaursandtea]

How convenient that she’s ‘naive’ and trusting and couldn’t possibly know what she was doing. She’s probably making a decent living off selling them over there, and the Egyptian police are quite right to crack down on Westerners flooding their country with illegal drugs.

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

I have no sympathy for the stupid woman and I hope the government doesn’t waste time and money getting her home.

[Taylor22]

I wonder if upon her return she'll be prosecuted in the U.K.

[ILoveMillhousesDad]

Silly silly woman. Nobody to blame but herself. All this she was taking them for her husbands bad back. Honestly. I'm not surprised they've jailed her. Not only has she taken illegal drugs into the country, she has insulted their intelligence also.

[DorisDangleberry]

So 3 years for her. I think she has got off lightly.

[pinkmagic1]

The marriage she would have had is called an orfi marriage and is not legally binding outside Egypt and is morally frowned upon even within Egypt.
It is a type of contract drawn up for a few pounds in a lawyers office and allows people to share a hotel room without trouble from the local police. It is generally used for people conducting holiday relationships and also by prostitutes.

[hmmwhatatodo]

Who knows Johnsnow, I actually imagine he talked her into signing marriage papers without her properly knowing what he was signing. Why would anyone in their right mind from the uk go over to Egypt and marry someone who was already married and had children? Were the family there? The close family that she still lives with? And they just went along with it and thought it was great? I doubt it. I’d be interested to know if it was a ‘real’ marriage or a random temporary one.