Laura Plummer jailed

An innocent little flower who has travelled to Egypt several times to continue an affair with a married man. I too wonder how often she has done this and got away with it. If, as is claimed, her "boyfriend" has serious back pain why is he not getting legal painkillers in Egypt?

Her Father obviously doesn't know his little flower enough. Nor what she gets up to. She knew exactly what she was doing.

Her father says she is such an innocent little flower that she goes to bed at 9pm every night because she worries about being late for work! Really??? How on earth does she manage to travel backwards and forwards to Egypt alone?
I hope the "friend" is investigated. DH takes Tramadol and I have to sign for it when I pick it up - and never more than 100 at a time.

Her father says she is such an innocent little flower that she goes to bed at 9pm every night because she worries about being late for work! Really??? How on earth does she manage to travel backwards and forwards to Egypt alone?
I hope the "friend" is investigated. DH takes Tramadol and I have to sign for it when I pick it up - and never more than 100 at a time.

I wonder how many times she's done it and got away with it.

She must have lied when she was leaving the UK. At the UK airport she should have declared she was carrying the drug. She needed to prove the drug was prescribed to her and show a letter from the prescribing physician. The letter must include:

Your name
What countries you’re going to and when
A list of your medicine, including how much you have, doses and the strength
The signature of the person who prescribed your drugs

This information is from the government website and it highlights this -

You could get a fine or go to prison if you travel with medicine that’s illegal in another country - check with the embassy of the country you’re going to before you travel.

She knew what she was doing. She just didn't expect to get caught, nor did she realise the seriousness of any repercussions.

True vampirequeen. The media are making it seem a travesty of justice. Her sister going on about how 'she's being imprisoned for being kind' is just pathetic. How stupid do they think the great British public are?!

Although over the counter and prescription only drugs are legal in this country most people will understand the media usage of 'legal' as being the same as 'over the counter'.

Yes but it's not legal to give them to someone else. They were only legal to the person prescribed them

Prescription-only drugs I was taking for arthritic pain back in the nineties, which have now been withdrawn from use in this country, were available over the counter in Thailand where I was working at the time. You couldn't buy them in the UK but they were still legal.

It doesn't annoy me. Being legal only means that they either can be bought or they can be prescribed by doctors. Plus that one can use them legally.

Illegal drugs are ones that can't be used legally at all.

Totally agree vampirequeen

It annoys me that the media keep saying that the drugs are legal in this country making them sound as if you can buy them over the counter.

DH thought it would take up less space to transfer the tea bags to a squashable polythene bag but I persuaded him they were better left in the packets Smileless.
Sometimes they want to question what medication I am taking in, other times they don't bother.

I too think that 3 years is a fairly lenient sentence for that offence in that country NannyTee.

Thank you for the information durhamjen - yes, the consequences could be severe (up to 14 years imprisonment + a fine) in this country too for supply of a Schedule 3 drug. It is not allowed to be prescribed on a repeat prescription so how she got hold of 300 from 'a friend' who got them legally is a mystery .

Very true

I think some sections of the press and media have been a bit quick to build a picture of complete innocence and it will not help in the long run, as most of the comments here show that people can work a lot of things out for themselves. It is good that our country will help anyone who gets into trouble in a strange country, whether through ignorance, bad influences or sheer hard luck. That could happen to any of us. However, it would be good if the weight of public attention was kept on those languishing in prisons far from home because of local conditions, legal systems, corruption and politics beyond their control.

Off them sorry

There's more than one "friend" involved. Probably a circle of friends who know of people taking them . They buy of them and so on and so forth it's the same with any drugs. She's been caught knowing exactly what she was doing. 3 years is a doddle for that.

My understanding is that whenever you arrive in a country you fill out a card which includes a question about meds you have in your possession. If she'd ticked 'yes' I'd have been more convinced it was a mistake.

When my mam goes to Australia she declares everything and lets immigration decide.

You have to make sure you know what the regulations for each country you're visiting are.

When we went to Aus. for Christmas 2 years ago I'd packed some tea bags for DS. They were part of a 'monkey' gift pack together with 2 mugs and tea spoons. So I ticked the appropriate box on the immigration form and explained what I was carrying when I handed it in.

They just smiled at me and waved me on my way but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

True. Just blethering on related issues

That’s a different and complex discussion bags. Legalising or decriminalising drugs here wouldn’t have any impact on tramadol and Egypt.

And the current laws aren't working when it comes to drug abuse.

I think there's quite a strong case to be made (and some people are making it) for decriminalising "Classed" drugs. I don't have a strong opinion about it but the arguments I've heard seem reasonable.

Interesting article. incorrect dosage [of Tramadol] could have potentially fatal consequences. This is true of tablets you can buy in supermarkets.

Have there been any cases of fatal consequences in Belfast, I wonder?