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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to hope the Foreign Office don't waste any time on Laura Plummer...

684 replies

PiffleandWiffle · 26/12/2017 22:09

She was stupid enough to smuggle drugs into a country against their laws, got caught & got sentenced.

BBC Link

Cue the predictable wailing & cries of "it's not fair" from the family!

Personally, I'd rather the Foreign Office spent it's time trying to help people who are genuinely in trouble abroad rather than idiots drug smugglers....

OP posts:
FreshHerbs · 27/12/2017 22:45

So she had travelled numerous occasions back and forth over the years to Egypt to be with this man. I do think she has done this before and would have continued to do so. She would have known the risks, most folk will check out what you can and can't bring, visa information, terrorist threats etc before flying out esp to a country such as Egypt. She does not appear to look thick and from when you are disguising drugs in your luggage then you defiantly know what you are doing. You cannot fuck around when going to these countries, their laws are different and there prisons are hell holes. Our English jails should learn a thing or two, they get TVs computers keys to there own cells, 3 meals a day etc etc
This woman ain't getting shit in there, for allowing a man to get inside her head she will have to fight just for daily basics, food, sanitation, hygiene never mind language barriers, culture and all the rest of it.
Yes I feel sorry for her but yes she did this to herself. Will this Egyptian husband visit her now, be there for her.......nah we all no the answer to that, he's just pissed that his tablet courier got caught. Won't be long before he finds another I suppose...... when will these women learn

Piggywaspushed · 27/12/2017 22:48

Out of interest how does one look thick ? Confused

ohfortuna · 27/12/2017 23:01

Yes I feel sorry for her
you do?
sounds like you're rubbing your hands and salivating over the thought of her having to 'fight just for daily basics, food, sanitation, hygiene never mind language barriers, culture and all the rest of it'

BruelTr · 28/12/2017 00:42

She's learnt a valuable lesson; don't bring drugs into Islamic countries for your married boyfriend to sell. They won't pander to your pretence of not understanding what you've done and they'll punish you to ensure you won't want to come back and deter others like you.

Given that he has several western women on the go, it's reasonable to assume what he's using them for. He'll be under watch now.

She was an idiot. She's lucky she only got three years, she'll probably be out sooner than that but they'll keep her there long enough to make her never want to step foot in the country again.

sashh · 28/12/2017 03:15

Is there a reliable master-list by destination of prohibited (even with prescription) drugs floating around in cyber-space anywhere?

Most, if not all, countries advertise what is legal and illegal on their embassy/consular web sites. No one really wants to catch someone smuggling, they would much rather smuggling didn't happen.

As an Aussie poster noted earlier Australia tells you, tells you again and then tells you both on the flight and at the landing airport things you cannot take through and provides bins for you to dump any 'contraband'.

Australia is unusual that it doesn't want vegetable / plant / seeds in virtually any form bringing in so they hit you over the head with warnings. If you do try to take an apple through they will hit you with a fine and make sure you understand the rules then tell you to have a good holiday. Obviously if you are taking cocaine it's a bit different.

brizzledrizzle · 28/12/2017 05:06

The house martins were pretty good too...

Roussette · 28/12/2017 07:27

Well, let's hope she has learnt a valuable lesson but reading and hearing some of what the family has said, I'm doubtful. Yes of course she won't be doing this again but there was an air of 'I can't believe Egypt are doing this to her'.

Plus a recent quote by her Dad talks of her being an innocent (quite possible) and leading a quiet life of routine, her work at a shop, home at 6.30pm, getting in her pyjamas ready to watch Emmerdale and then going to bed at 9pm in the bedroom at her Mum's house that hasn't changed since she was a child. All well and good, but if so where did she meet the married egyptian man and how did she cope with endless visits over there to see him...

pinkmagic1 · 28/12/2017 09:21

I have family in Egypt and have sadly seen many women loose everything to love rats. They seem to have a way of sucking them in and brainwashing them. I have seen it happen to women from all walks of life, including teachers and a policewoman.
Tramodol is currently the street drug of choice in Egypt and it is a huge problem. It also fetches a reasonable street price and the 300 tablets would have been worth a lot more than the £23 that was mentioned.
I would imagine that Laura knew that what she was doing was wrong, but was more than likely brainwashed by her 'husband'. You really would be surprised the amount of control these men seem to have over these women.

PersianCatLady · 28/12/2017 09:30

Her family's description of her and her travels to Egypt totally contradict each other.

PersianCatLady · 28/12/2017 09:34

I know you can't trust what newspapers write bug there are an awful lot of pictures of her out drinking and at nightclubs. It seems odd for someone who is supposedly in bed by 9 most nights.

ohfortuna · 28/12/2017 09:55

social media profiles which show as a jet setting party Girl will shoot her in the foot if she tries to use the argument that she is an early to bed and to rise Home body

International drug traffickers should do their due diligence!

Piggywaspushed · 28/12/2017 09:55

What would pictures lifted off your social media look like catlady?

The very few I have ever had taken of me in some kind of close up/ head shot would consist of me grinning obediently with a glass of gin or wine.

Piggywaspushed · 28/12/2017 09:56

£23 is how much the tramadol cost here.

mustbemad17 · 28/12/2017 10:09

Tramadol street value in the UK obviously varies. I was offered £30 per 100mg tablet by a (now ex) friend when they realised I was taking it. Apparently £30 was 'doing us both a favour' - he often paid higher than that 😱

Piggywaspushed · 28/12/2017 10:18

I have seen it quoted so much that I am guessing they know that is what LP actually paid for it.

LEMtheoriginal · 28/12/2017 10:20

This made me spit teeth when I saw this on the news. They reported it like she is a victim!!!! A victim of her own stupidity more like - or greed if she was selling them on!

Tramadol is a controlled drug in this country so where did she get 300 from? My mum takes these and can only get a moths supply at a time. So at most 60 tablets a month with constant checks for a severe debilitating codition. As in not one you can fake!!

As for the idiot lawyer or whatever making a statement tgat Egypt's OTT response will put people offtravelling there. Errr not if they aren't drug smugglers it won't!!

Yes the home office had better not be wasting tac payers money on this criminal - you do the crime you do the time! Then when she gets Bach here she should face crucial proceedings!! But that would be a slap on the wrist wouldn't it.

Unless I've missed something she needs to suck it up.

Tramadol is morphine based. It's not codeine

Piggywaspushed · 28/12/2017 10:20

Yup, just checked online : could actually get 300 for £15 from an online pharmacist.

ohfortuna · 28/12/2017 10:40

Presumably to buy 300 for £15 will be looking at an online pharmacist from overseas so your package may get stopped at customs and you get a seizure notice

Unnoticed · 28/12/2017 10:44

Piggywaspushed - not from a reputable pharmacist with an NHS contract you can’t.

Piggywaspushed · 28/12/2017 10:47

Actually, it is . All registered. Has contract with NHS. I didn't go through checkout. You need a prescription - either NHS or a private one after a consultation online. (I have used the website myself for far less controversial reasons!)

I am not saying I agree with this.

I assume if I had tried to checkout they would have stopped me getting 300 . But there will be ways round that.

Piggywaspushed · 28/12/2017 10:49

They're in Leeds...

ohfortuna · 28/12/2017 10:52

I stand corrected!

LoveVelo · 28/12/2017 10:55

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but there is reliable advice regarding travelling with prescription drugs available:
www.gov.uk/travelling-controlled-drugs

Piggywaspushed · 28/12/2017 10:57

I do myself believe the whole thing was dodgy - but my tendency is to see LP as having been duped and manipulated, I guess.

In case you missed it, whilst it was illegal in Egypt for quite some time, the authorities added it to their travel advice AFTER Laura's arrest.

Either way, I wouldn't want to see my worst enemy in the prison she was placed in. She was moved there without her family's knowledge almost immediately after sentencing. It's over 10 miles away form where she was previously held and the FO had assured family that a western prisoner would not be jailed there. She has also most likely been tried for possession and not dealing or smuggling. Which does suggest they believe her story.

If one reads The Times, say, rather than the clickbaity online articles or the DM, one will get a fuller account.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 28/12/2017 11:18

Her family's description of her and her travels to Egypt totally contradict each other

Frankly, the family's grasp of reality sounds about as good as Laura's own; there's also a quote on the Hull Daily Mail about some woman refusing to hand over the prescription she has which could apparently "prove" Laura's innocence Hmm

It's understandable that they're upset, but just what's the point in these silly remarks? They're not exactly going to increase public sympathy ...