The interest around her “resembles a minor celebrity”.
Convicted criminal Michaella McCollum has returned to Ireland three years after her arrest in Peru for smuggling cocaine. The 23-year-old landed in Dublin Airport last night after being released on parole in March.
The Tyrone native and Melissa Reid were both found guilty of smuggling £1.5m worth of cocaine at Lima Airport back in August 2013.
McCollum was released halfway into her six years and eight months prison sentence, but DUP MLA Lord Maurice Morrow has been heavily critical of the publicity surrounding her return to Ireland.
Speaking with UTV, he believes that “the focus should be on the victims of drug abuse in our society and not those who contributed to their harm”.
The representative for the constituency of Fermanagh & South Tyrone also believes that McCollum is being treated like a ‘minor celebrity’
“This is the return of a convicted criminal, yet a great deal of the publicity which appears to surround her currently resembles a minor celebrity. The harm caused by the drugs she attempted to smuggle affects communities everywhere and that should not be forgotten. A question which remains is whether her return will be followed by attempts to remain in the public eye, or even to profit from the notoriety she achieved with her crimes.”
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