Sentencing of two British school girls in Ghana postponed to next year

for immediate release

The sentencing of two 16 year old girls from North London who were convicted of attempted drugs trafficking out of Ghana has been postponed to Wednesday 9 January 2008.

The postponement has been necessary to allow social workers to compile a report on the girls and for necessary police background checks to take place to confirm they do not have any prior convictions.

Speaking about the delay, Fair Trials International Chief Executive Catherine Wolthuizen commented:

“Under Ghanaian juvenile justice law, sentencing of minors should promote their rehabilitation, rather than be merely punitive. In order to assess what sentence will be appropriate, the court needs to understand the girls’ backgrounds and all possible mitigating circumstances.

“We welcome the additional time for all necessary investigations to take place and hope this will result in a lenient sentence for the girls, taking their previous good character, their youth, naivety and any special needs into account.

“In particular, we hope the court will recognise that the girls are victims of the international drug trade, who had been lured to Ghana on false pretences and then abandoned while the real perpetrators have escaped scot-free.

“Fair Trials International will continue to work on the case, supporting the girls’ lawyer in Ghana and working with Doughty Street barrister Joe Stone in ensuring all appropriate pre-sentencing information is in the hands of the court ahead of its decision on 9 January 2008

“In the meantime, we understand the girls will continue to be held in the secure facility outside the Ghanaian prison system,” concluded Ms Wolthuizen.