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AP/Press Association Images

Belfast prison agrees to take drug smuggler Michaela McCollum

The Peruvian ministry of justice and human rights must approve the repatriation.

MICHAELA MCCOLLUM IS hoping to serve the rest of her sentence in Northern Ireland after the prison service in Belfast agreed to accept her.

The 21-year-old from Dungannon, Tyrone was jailed in Peru for smuggling cocaine worth €1.9 million with Melissa Reid in 2013.

The pair were caught with the drugs at Lima airport on August 6 2013, they were later sentenced to six years and eight months.

Her solicitor has described the conditions of the prison she’s currently in as ‘horrendous’.

The Northern Ireland Justice Minister, David Ford, said: “After consideration of the facts of this case, including the difficulty encountered in maintaining family contact I am content to approve the repatriation to Northern Ireland of Michaela McCollum.”

Officials in Belfast have now completed the paperwork for Michaella McCollum’s transfer.

However, it’s understood that the final decision on the application is a matter for the Peruvian ministry of justice and human rights.

Read: Michaella McCollum Connolly ‘endured a significant amount of stress’>

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49 Comments
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    Mute Mary Lyons
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    Apr 15th 2015, 12:33 PM

    The tech guides go right over my head even though I am the one who needs them most!!

    25
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    Mute Byyys
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    Apr 15th 2015, 12:29 PM

    If you’ve limited space and have to delete photos or Apps to make room, then just buy a MicroSD card.. (I have a 64GB SD card with plenty of space left) Apple wont allow the use of SD cards with iPhones or no USB support either to easily transfer Photos to PC!

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    Mute Kelvin Collins
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    Apr 15th 2015, 12:35 PM

    However you can set up iCloud to automatically copy all photos to a PC as they’re shot, meaning you have a back up and can delete off your phone if you so wish. No need for any cables or leads!

    18
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    Mute Byyys
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    Apr 15th 2015, 12:43 PM

    iCloud?…. Naaaah ill keep my privacy/data to myself and do it the old fashioned way with leads!

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    Mute Kelvin Collins
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    Apr 15th 2015, 12:49 PM

    You got some dodgy photos you want to keep secret?

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    Mute LittleBlackPetal
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    Apr 15th 2015, 12:56 PM

    I’ve this problem with my phone now, and don’t really trust backing them up to Google or anything. Would you trust an sd card from eBay? Is an sd card and usb key the best way to go?

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    Mute LittleBlackPetal
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    Apr 15th 2015, 12:57 PM

    Does everyone not have dodgey photos that they want to keep secret?! :-/

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    Mute andrew haire
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    Apr 15th 2015, 12:41 PM

    Don’t take too many photos. Live in the moment.

    23
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    Mute Ken Peacham
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    Apr 15th 2015, 1:09 PM

    I use an app called Clean Master (Android) great for sorting and deleting duplicate pics – also keeps the rest of your phone clean of junk

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    Mute mahonez
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    Apr 15th 2015, 5:28 PM

    For precious pics that I really want to save, I email them to myself. Or upload to Dropbox. Or print em out. Crap amount of storage in iPhone 5c, so I have to try and sort and delete pics often.

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