A woman from County Tyrone arrested and jailed for drugs smuggling in Peru has said her decision was made in a “moment of madness”.
Michaella McCollum was freed on parole this week after serving more than two years in prison in South America.
She said if the cocaine had got back to Europe, she could have “had a lot of blood on my hands”.
“I could have potentially killed a lot of people, not directly but I could have caused a lot of harm to people.”
Ms McCollum, from Dungannon, told Irish state broadcaster RTÉ that she was not a bad person and wanted to demonstrate she was a good person.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Michaella McCollum had been awaiting approval for her transfer back to Northern Ireland from Peru
She said she had “forgotten the things that everybody takes for granted”.
“Seeing the sun, seeing the darkness, seeing the moon and the stars, things I haven’t seen in almost three years,” she told the programme.
Ms McCollum and Melissa Reid, from Scotland, were caught with 11kg (24lb) of cocaine in August 2013.
They were searched at Lima’s international airport and cocaine was found hidden inside packages of food.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid were arrested at Lima Airport in 2013
The women initially claimed they had been kidnapped and forced to carry drugs, but later admitted the charges.
The pair admitted trying to smuggle cocaine worth £1.5m from Peru to Spain and were jailed for six years and eight months.
Ms McCollum was released effectively on parole on Thursday night and her solicitor is waiting to hear the terms of her release.
It is anticipated she will have to remain in Peru for a considerable period as part of her parole conditions.
Ms McCollum was freed under new legislation on early prison release introduced in Peru last year.
She had served two years and three months.
Melissa Reid from Lenzie, near Glasgow, who was also convicted for trying to smuggle cocaine, remains in prison in Peru.
She has been seeking to serve the remainder of her sentence closer to home in Scotland.
A transfer request for her was approved by the Scottish Prison Service in January 2015.
But it says any transfer would ultimately be for the Peruvian prison service to determine.
Michaella McCollum’s interview will be shown on RTÉ One at 21:30 BST on Sunday.
Culled from BBC news
