UK cocaine teens found guilty

Accra, Nov. 21, GNA - Two British teen girls who were arrested last July for possessing illegal substances and attempting to traffic cocaine to Britain were on Wednesday found guilty by a juvenile court on both counts.

Their sentencing was, however, deferred to December 5, 2007, pending a social service report from the Social Welfare Departments of Ghana.

They could be jailed for a maximum of three years in a juvenile correctional facility.

"The judge requested for the social services report to factor it into the final sentence," Gary Nicholls of the British High Commission in Accra told journalists.

He said the girls, both 16 years old, were devastated when the verdict was passed.

In a brief statement after the verdict, the families of the girls expressed disappointment at the verdict and said they would appeal against it.

"We will be appealing this verdict," they said in a statement read on their behalf by Ms Sabine Zanker, Head of Legal Team of UK-based Fair Trials International.

The families noted that both girls were vulnerable and that their "naivety was ruthlessly exploited" by the men who lured them to Ghana and left them to their terrible fate.

"The defence presented evidence to show how the girls had been lured to Ghana on false pretences, and to show they had never agreed to participate in illegal drug trafficking, and indeed had no knowledge of the real purpose of their trip," the letter said.

The families noted that contrary to suggestions by the media that the girls were masterminds in the drug trafficking operations, "this is not a clear cut case as media reports suggested".

Ms Zanker said FTI would collaborate with defence council of the girls to put together a valid case for an appeal soon. The girls were taken away by officials of Narcotics Control Board after the verdict.

The two girls were arrested on July 2, 2007 when they were going through immigration procedure at the Kotoka International Airport to board Heathrow-bound British Airways flight.

A search through their laptop bags revealed a total six kilos of white powder, later confirmed to be cocaine with a street value of 300,000 Pounds.

They pleaded not guilty and named at two persons, Kwame and Emmanuel, as the people who put the substances in their bags without their knowledge.

PICTURE: One of two British girls found guilty of trying to smuggle cocaine out of Ghana covers her head with a piece of fabric as she leaves the courthouse in Accra, Ghana Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2007. The 16-year-old students from London, who were arrested at the Accra airport in July with nearly 6 kilograms (about 13 pounds) of the drug in their laptop cases, were both found guilty on counts of possession and trafficking of narcotic drugs. (AP Photo/Olivier Asselin)