Two 23-year-old British backpackers who falsely claimed they were robbed in order to make an insurance claim have been ordered to perform 16 months of community service in the slums of Rio de Janeiro.
Shortly before they arrived in Rio, the pair claimed that they had been robbed of valuables including a digital camera and laptop worth £1,000. When police officers searched their hostel, the items were found amongst their other belongings.
Shanti Andrews and Rebecca Turner, both law graduates will have to complete at least 8 months of their sentence before they are allowed to return to the UK. The pair reacted to the sentence by saying that they were “stunned and upset.”
According to Andrews’ mother, Simone Headley:
It’s going to be a long time before they fly back home. Their lives are potentially ruined. We know this is not the end of it. It’s a process. The girls are likely to appeal against the decision.
Andrews’ father Alan added that he was “very shocked” by the severity of the sentence.
Turner’s father, Robert Turner, took a more diplomatic approach:
I think all things are being considered at the moment. It is certainly better than it could have been.
The terms of the community service order are yet to be decided, but Turner and Andrews will likely be working in hospitals or teaching English in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. They can choose to either perform one hour of work per day for 16 months or 2 hours of work per day for 8 months. Had the two been sentenced to a custodial term, they could have been imprisoned for years.
The lawyer for the two law graduates, Renato Tonini explained:
It (the sentence) is more than we expected, but at least they are not going to prison. They are not happy, but I have told them we will be appealing.
Tonini also plans to apply to have them serve their sentence in the UK.
The pair have had their passports confiscated as they are considered a flight risk and are currently being held in a hotel, no doubt an improvement on Polinter Women’s prison where they and 140 other women were forced to sleep on the floor.
It is unlikely that Andrews and Turner will be able to enter the legal profession once they complete their sentence due to their criminal records.
