Morning:
14°c
'Fraud' backpackers weep in Brazil court
Peter Dominiczak and Paul Thompson18.08.09
Two British backpackers broke down in a Brazilian courtroom today after admitting travel insurance fraud by claiming they had been robbed on a bus journey to Rio de Janeiro.
Shanti Andrews and Rebecca Turner, both 23-year-old law graduates, were said to be “exhausted” after the 10-hour hearing which continued until after midnight.
The pair wept as prosecutors demanded they should be jailed. Police in Rio say the “luggage trick” is on the rise and it is feared the women could be made an example of. The judge will not decide on the punishment until later this week.
The hearing, which had to be translated into English, lasted into the early hours when the judge insisted on a late-night sitting.
Dressed soberly in black, Andrews and Turner appeared in court to formally enter their pleas. Andrews's father was in court and was said to have left in tears as the trial continued.
The women spoke through a court-appointed interpreter to admit they had made the false claim. Andrews burst into tears as she recounted her story and Turner was said to have been nervous as she spoke.
The women, who studied at the University of Sussex, were “both exhausted and want to go home”, said their lawyer Renato Tonini. “It has been a draining day for them,” he added.
Under the Brazilian justice system the evidence against the women will still be heard despite their guilty pleas.
The lawyer for the prosecution said they knew exactly what they were doing when they told police they had been robbed last month.
The pair were arrested on 26 July after allegedly telling police that belongings totalling about £1,000 were stolen during a bus journey from Foz do Iguacu to Rio.
Officers from a specialist tourist support unit apparently became suspicious that they had waited several days before reporting the theft to police and the pair were arrested. A search carried out at the women's hostel is said to have revealed some of the missing items under their beds.
Police say they found a £240 mobile phone, a £450 digital camera, a £600 iPod and a £60 white bag. But a laptop and other goods have still not been found, according to the girls' lawyer.
Following their arrest the pair were handcuffed to each other and sent to the Polinter women's prison in Mesquita before being bailed.
Turner, from Woolton Hill, near Newbury, Berkshire, said after they were released: “It was the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me in my life.” Andrews, from Frant, near Tunbridge Wells, said: “We thought we were at the gates of hell.”
Their families insist it is all a misunderstanding.
The hearing continues.
