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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:
Eltonjohnssyrup · 26/12/2017 22:43

Apparently she can't transfer because the British/Egyptian prisoner transfer agreement specifically excludes drug offences.

So she just has to suck it up. Because it's a pretty reasonable sentence for the offence.

I don't think the foreign office will do anything bearing this in mind. And considering the story has only really got this much attention because her sister is fit.

Bumbelinadance · 26/12/2017 22:44

Just adding a couple of angles here
Am ready to be shot down but...

If she was taking it in for it to be sold for financial gain then yes she does deserve to be treated as a drug smuggler in my view .

But if she was taking it in for her husband who was in pain's own use then it's perhaps a bit grey in my eyes. We go to all sorts of lengths to stop the people we love hurting don't we ?

I had a terrible car crash and broke my neck . Tramadol was the only thing that got me through the night the first few weeks after I was discharged from hospital . Codeine or brufen just didn't help .

I also would say having been inside the sort of prison she is in , and I have sadly , then I would be beside myself at my sister or friend being there .

WyfOfBathe · 26/12/2017 22:45

YANBU.

If she'd taken 20 tramadol with her, prescribed to her for an illness, I'd be sympathetic if she got in trouble - even though I'd expect someone with family abroad to know that different countries have different rules on medications.
I double checked online before taking a weeks worth of OTC co-codamol to another European country!

Giving large amounts of strong prescription painkillers to someone else is dodgy as hell anyway, without taking them over international borders.

I wonder whether they really were for a relative's pain, or if she was a drugs mule.

Mumof56 · 26/12/2017 22:46

But if she was taking it in for her husband who was in pain's

The "husband" was well enough to have 2 wives. Maybe that's how he got his "bad back"?

ArchchancellorsHat · 26/12/2017 22:48

I think the husband could ahve gone to a dr and gotten his own prescription if he was in pain surely. She could ahve paid for that if she wanted to help?

mustbemad17 · 26/12/2017 22:48

Been saying this since I saw the story. Stupid cow. Sorry, but 300 tablets screams dodgy to me. I was on tramadol for a while, took an absolute age to get the GP to prescribe it & i had had all the necessary poking & prodding sessions from the relevant departments at the hospital. She's obtained these illegally in the UK, pretty obvious. And if she 'had' to get them for her hubby then she must have known they were illegal over there...otherwise why wouldn't he have gone down the legal route to get them himself?

To me this is a prime example of something thinking 'im British, if I get caught the Government will bail me out because my family will kick off'

Don't want to do the time in a foreign country? Don't break their bloody laws

MidniteScribbler · 26/12/2017 22:52

Stupid woman. She got off very lightly, so needs to put her head down and keep quiet for the next three years.

Botero · 26/12/2017 22:53

When I first read the headline about drug smuggling I was completely ready to agree with her sentencing. I was expecting heroin or something similar.
Then I saw that the drug was tramadol. I had an operation last week and have been given 120 tramadol tablets. I had no idea they were so restricted. I'm quite shocked.

hmmwhatatodo · 26/12/2017 22:54

They must be the most glamorous family in the whole of Hull! I love that the sister who was interviewed for bbc news was fully decked out despite knowing her nice but dim sister is languishing in jail and having a mental breakdown. I’d like to know the Egyptian wife’s take on the whole situation. You really couldn’t make it up.

ILoveTheEU · 26/12/2017 22:56

You guys are Mean. :( yabu.

I would like to know more about how she got the 290 pills, though. Exactly what lies her "colleague" told to GP, or however she really got the meds.

Today news report on loop keeps saying "she doesn't drink..." when lots of pics online seem to show her drinking booze. Xmas Confused

bobstersmum · 26/12/2017 22:59

She was stupid, or just ignorant, or both, she knew she was doing wrong though I'm quite sure. She deserves to pay the consequences and I hope she gets no help from foreign office!

dingdongdigeridoo · 26/12/2017 22:59

It’s not like she’s one of those people who take the wrong painkiller to Dubai and get locked up. She smuggled huge amounts of the drug into Egypt, and it’s one of the most popular recreational drugs in the country.

I suspect her boyfriend/husband conned her into bringing them. The whole thing is shady.

Namechanger5555 · 26/12/2017 23:00

He was standing outside the court room looking healthy.
I think she's got off remarkably easy. Niave at best.
I'm much more interested in seeing the Iranian journalist set free.

CrochetBelle · 26/12/2017 23:01

What a stupid cow. She knew they were a controlled drug in this country (have extra hoops to jump for when it is collected from the pharmacy, never mind to have it prescribed!), so wouldn't have taken them abroad without checking.

BTW, I can get 224 a month, so 300 isn't much more than that.

cathyclown · 26/12/2017 23:02

Another love rat from the quad of countries that try to entrap vulnerable women with their pleadings of get me this and that, we are penniless, I need a smartphone, you are gorgeous, I need money and drugs etc. etc.

Lesson to others I hope, but am not that hopeful. Still, it's none of my business what women get up to in the hell holes of Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Turkey. Have I forgotten anywhere?

I will be told next that those four countries are beautiful, people are so friendly, food is gorgeous and all the rest of it.

Yup. Visited all four and will never set foot in any of them again. Nothing to do with the men, just the whole culture thing. Sorry that's me.

Munchyseeds · 26/12/2017 23:03

Stupid woman and I hope we don't waste any money on her at all

If you can't do the time don't do the crime springs to mind

She is lucky she didn't get sentenced to far longer

yorkshireyummymummy · 26/12/2017 23:04

Just for those saying she should only have 28 tablets as tramadol are a restricted drug..........well that depends on your pain levels. I take 8 tramadol daily and so my thirty day prescription is for 240 tablets. I always try to take a minimum of a week extra tablets on top of what I need just in case whenever I travel. I took 800 to Australia. I won’t be going to Egypt any time soon!!

Weezol · 26/12/2017 23:05

She illegally obtained opiates in the UK. I am prescribed Tramadol and the NHS does not dish it out for laughs. The minute they were in her hands she was breaking UK law.
She then took them to a country where they are banned, a country known to have really grim prisons.
I don't care how nice she is, she is simply facing the consequences of her actions. She's not some poverty-stricken drugs mule whose bosses will shoot her kids back in the village of she doesn't complete the task.

hmmwhatatodo · 26/12/2017 23:05

Yes I also hope the poor lady in Iran gets out very soon. I know they were hoping she would be back just before Christmas but the news seems to have suddenly gone quiet unless I have missed something.

nancy75 · 26/12/2017 23:06

I have just seen a family member on the news saying this will stop people going to Egypt in holiday - I’ve travelled all over the world & have never been arrested for drug smuggling because I’ve never smuggled drugs, it’s fsirly simple!

MidniteScribbler · 26/12/2017 23:06

I don't think there's anyone at this point that could say they aren't aware that taking huge amounts of drugs (prescription or otherwise) is not a bloody stupid idea.

We have a border show over here in Australia and it always shows tourists with huge amounts of food being stopped. Having travelled through our international airports many, many times, I can say for sure that you are given a brochure in every language saying that you must declare all food. You fill out a declaration stating 'I am not carrying any food' which is available in every language on earth. There are giant bins all through the terminal before you reach customs saying 'Dump it or declare' in many different languages. You will be verbally asked 'do you have any food items with you?'. Yet these morons (and there is no other word for it) then claim they didn't know when they inevitably get stopped by customs and charged for breaking the law. Many of them are frequent travellers to Australia. No sympathy for them at all.

froshiechipandbrickie · 26/12/2017 23:07

She did something extremely stupid but she’s still a British citizen.

nancy75 · 26/12/2017 23:08

What has being a British citizen got to do with it? She’s been arrested, had a trial and now has to go to prison

Graphista · 26/12/2017 23:09

Yanb at all u

I've been following this story since it was first reported, I too am prescribed tramadol but am well aware it is a strong highly addictive drug and only take it when the pain is unbearable.

THREE HUNDRED tablets NO WAY she thought that was ok, clear from the fact she tried disguising them as paracetamol and had them in her hold luggage not cabin baggage. She not only broke Egyptian laws but also uk ones in obtaining a controlled drug without a prescription.

Her story has changed numerous times.

Drug dealers and smugglers cause misery to many, absolutely no sympathy for her at all and wish her family would fuck off and accept they have a despicable family member.

If anything the sentence is bloody lenient! She was lucky!

TheFairyCaravan · 26/12/2017 23:11

YANBU

I used to take Tramadol. It’s a horrible drug. I had to stop taking it because it gives me migraines. I don’t miss it tbh.

It’s now a controlled drug in this country. I’m not sure I believe the bit about the colleague giving it to her tbh. It wouldn’t surprise me if she bought it here. As for the boyfriend having a bad back I think that’s bollocks too.