British Drug Teens to face court

The trial of two British teenage girls accused of trying to smuggle drugs from Ghana to the UK is due to resume.

The testimony of prosecution witnesses is expected to be heard during a closed court hearing in Accra.

Yasemin Vatansever and Yatunde Diya, both 16 and from north London, pleaded not guilty to the charges against them when they appeared at a youth court on July 27.

The pair, who were arrested at Accra airport on July 2, face up to three years in prison if convicted under Ghanaian law.

The two teenagers were allegedly found with £300,000-worth of cocaine, but have insisted they were set up.

On July 12 they were provisionally charged with illegal possession of drugs and attempting to smuggle more than 6kg (13lb) of cocaine into the UK.

The girls are being tried under Ghana's progressive Juvenile Justice Act, meaning their trial must be completed within six months.

Miss Vatansever is the London-born daughter of immigrants from Cyprus, while Miss Diya is a British citizen of Nigerian descent.

Last month, Miss Vatansever told Channel 4 News from prison: "There were basically two boys over here who gave us two bags. We never thought anything bad was inside... and they told us to go to the UK and drop it off to some boy... at the airport.

"It was basically like a set-up. They didn't tell us nothing, we didn't think nothing, because basically we are innocent. We don't know nothing about this drugs and stuff, we don't know nothing."