Missing...
- Thread starter ric
- Start date
She's the Johnny Walker, to Michaela's Danny Rampling
The Sun God
Active Member
the recent BBC series is now on YouTube in 5 parts
She sounded sincere enough and had obviously been through hell but I couldn't help wondering whether viewers were being played... esp as she hasn't been shy on social media
as for the cocaine, the programme raised some awkward questions many of us would prefer to avoid...
She sounded sincere enough and had obviously been through hell but I couldn't help wondering whether viewers were being played... esp as she hasn't been shy on social media
as for the cocaine, the programme raised some awkward questions many of us would prefer to avoid...
Johnny Vodka
Well-Known Member
Couple of episodes in. It's an interesting watch. Thanks for the heads up.
freakstar
Well-Known Member
It’s great…they actually got off pretty easy in the end. Seems like she changed but I doubt her local community will ever accept given they raised money for her on the premise that they believed she was innocent
cunninghamali
Well-Known Member
I actually like her...and I belive she was really honest when she talked about it
Everyone makes mistakes and does stupid things (well not that stupid) but still
She is lucky she got 3 years she could of got much more
She has twin boys now...
Everyone makes mistakes and does stupid things (well not that stupid) but still
She is lucky she got 3 years she could of got much more
She has twin boys now...
freakstar
Well-Known Member
Yea, seems she was totally drugged up on acid etc…didn’t have a clue where Peru was until on the plane and saw the distance. What I don’t get is after 2 weeks she’d still try and do it - surely you would contact your embassy?
Good on her for moving forward
cunninghamali
Well-Known Member
Yeh crazy story...I think in that moment in time she felt like there was no way out
Must of been so scary, I could just imagine how she felt when the security guard put his hand on her shoulder and she must have thought f***!
johndiamond
Active Member
would have been interested to hear melissa's side of story also as there were a couple of "melissa said we should" moments in the story.
I read the book and it doesn't sound like the 2 of them ever got on very well at all. They seemed to go their separate ways once jailed.
The documentary only really skims over what went on inside.
There were some issues as well with Melissas family allegedly selling stories to the press.
I do too.
I felt for her. Could see how she was young, naive and in over her head.
What she achieved while in prison was pretty impressive. Don't think I could have done what she did after going in to a place like that not speaking the language.
The thing that stood out most for me is the way the real bad guys threw them under the bus. The smuggling attempt was so amateur, it's hard to believe they weren't anything but decoy/forfeit to get the real shipment through. But begs the question, why use Westerners who were already being looked for? Would have been cheaper and more discreet to have recruited poor South Americans. Just a truly bizarre situation
I also got the book at the airport when it came out and read it whilst on a long-haul flight in December 2019 (don't worry, it didn't give me any ideas to become a mule!) Regarding Mellissa's family selling stories, I seem to remember in the book that The Sun (of course) led Melissa's father to believe that keeping an active media presence on the story would be good for the girls' case in escaping jail/getting out early. The opposite was true and it made the Peruvian authorities even more determined to make an example of the girls. Some of the tabloids sent journalists over to the prison and bribed the officers with food in order to get meeting the two girls for 'exclusive' stories which again, wasn't great for their case. I think the stories, etc. did cause some mistrust between the girls but on the whole, I didn't get the impression that they didn't get on. Mellissa seems to have kept her head down since getting out whereas Michaela might be seen to be profiting out of it but I think she comes across well in both the book and the documentary. Fair play to her for having her own hair salon in the prison and being elected as the prisoners' representative! I remember watching this at the time 'Peru Two' Michaella McCollum Shares Her Experience and Regret | Good Morning Britain - YouTube and I was impressed at how she managed to keep calm whilst Piers goaded her incessantly!
One funny moment from the book which sticks out is when they got to the airport in Peru, Mellissa thought that if they got the suitcases wrapped at one of those places in the airport where you can get luggage wrapped in plastic, the police wouldn't bother to open up the luggage!
Even if she wasn’t entirely “innocent” they were definitely somewhat manipulated. More naive than anything.
Regarding the money, the campaign was a complete failure and they barely raised anything for her (because by that stage everyone could see they were lying) but the trash journalist from the Mirror put a big focus on the money in her hit piece when they did come clean.
Johnny Vodka
Well-Known Member
Much as I had sympathy for the two girls, it's the prisoners who are in there for smuggling drugs pretty much out of economic necessity that I feel really sorry for.
I assume most people have watched this film -
I assume most people have watched this film -
freakstar
Well-Known Member
Exactly
