Sixteen and Scared in Ghana

19 Jul 2007
Hackney Gazette

The recent case of two sixteen year old girls from Islington Arts and Media College who are being held in prison in Accra, Ghana for alleged drug smuggling is a worrying one. The girls are apparently very frightened. And it must be a terrifying time for their parents. Having your child held in prison would be traumatic for any parent. But, if they are being held thousands of miles away it must be even worse. Apparently they are sleeping on a mattress on the floor and are sharing a cell with two other women.

Prison conditions in Ghana are certainly more austere than we are used to in England. But there is no reason to believe that the two girls will not get a fair trial. There is always the presumption, when British citizens abroad are accused of drug smuggling, that they  must be innocent.

But the truth is that we will not know whether the girls are innocent or guilty until the case comes to trial. However at the moment things do not look good for these young women. According to press reports girls say that when they got to Ghana two men approached them and asked them to take empty laptop bags back to England. But, if they are found guilty, they should serve their sentences. Ideally they should serve it back here in the UK where their families can visit them. And no doubt they would be eligible for time off for good behaviour etc. But if they have committed a crime they should be punished.

This may sound harsh because sixteen is very young. But, if they get away with it, then drug smugglers will believe that all that they have to do is get young British girls to do their smuggling for them. And young people themselves need to see that if you smuggle drugs there will be a price to pay.

If the girls are completely innocent that is fine. But if they are not, I hope that they will not be silly enough to protect the men (because it will be older men) who got them into this mess. Sixteen is very young to find yourself in prison thousands of miles away from home. But it is not too young to understand that you have to take responsibility for your actions.

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