Pubdate: Thu, 14 May 2009 Source: Guardian, The (UK) Copyright: 2009 Guardian News and Media Limited Contact: http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175 Author: Olga Heaven, The Guardian Note: Olga Heaven is the director of FPWP/Hibiscus LONG SENTENCES FOR DRUG MULES WERE NEVER GOING TO ACT AS A DETERRENT These Naive Smugglers Are Typically Badly Educated Single Mothers Coerced into Crime, Says Olga Heaven It was heartening to read that prison sentences for "drug mules" - men and women who are used to carry drugs into the UK - could be reduced to less than two years (Long jail terms do not deter drug barons, say advisers, 23 April). As the Sentencing Advisory Panel members said: "They are very often naive, vulnerable men and women from third world countries whose fates are totally disregarded by those at the top of the drug supply chain." Your article focused mainly on drug barons, but they are worlds apart from drug mules, and sentences should reflect this. My charity, the Female Prisoners Welfare Project/Hibiscus, which promotes the welfare of women in prison, has lobbied hard about the ineffectiveness of "deterrent sentencing" for drug mules. The average sentence for drug mules is six to eight years, but many of the women we work with are serving up to 15 years. These sentences are particularly harsh considering that these women are trafficked, they do not own or profit from selling the drugs, and are often first-time offenders. These long prison sentences, which tear their lives apart, have always been erroneous. They were based on the assumption that "mules" were sophisticated young women who smuggled drugs to fuel a jet-set lifestyle. The reality is very different. One of our clients, a Jamaican single mother of two, was sentenced to 10 years, despite this being a first offence. She was taking care of her elderly mother and struggling to make a living. When her mother fell ill and our client was unable to pay the hospital bills, a man offered to pay but soon after demanded the money back. The woman was unable to meet his demands and the man insisted, using threats, that she carry a package to London to clear the debt. She was arrested on entry at Heathrow, and found guilty of importation. During her imprisonment her mother died, her two children were thrown out of their home to live on the streets. Her daughter, aged 12, became pregnant. Our experience, working for over 20 years with these women, sentenced for importation, shows that they are typically poor, badly educated single mothers who become drug mules out of desperation. The Sentencing Guidelines Council now recognises this. Long deterrent sentences handed out in the UK to drug mules from abroad were always going to be ineffective, as the women were ignorant of the risk before leaving their homes. In addition, these women were often coerced and/or informed that, if caught, they would simply be deported. With the Foreign Office, Hibiscus has launched prevention campaigns in Jamaica, Ghana and Nigeria to inform vulnerable groups of the dangers and consequences of importing drugs into the UK. Following these campaigns there has been a dramatic decrease in the women arrested from those countries. Education is the answer. It is also less costly, both in terms of human damage and in imprisonment costs. Filling prisons with vulnerable women serving up to 15 years while their children starve abroad should become a thing of the past. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake