Bermudian faces four-year wait for UK drug-smuggling trial
A Bermudian accused of smuggling cocaine into Britain was told she must wait until 2030 to stand trial.
Brittonasha Taylor, 22, was allegedly caught with the class A drug at Heathrow in London on August 8.
Ms Taylor denied fraudulently evading the prohibition on importing a class A drug when she appeared at Isleworth Crown Court in West London yesterday afternoon.
Her barrister, Lyle Thompson, said: “We will be using the defence of duress.”
Ms Taylor did not deny she was caught with the drug, but maintained she was forced to smuggle it into the country.
Mr Thompson said: “Ms Taylor is bailed to a UK address and a trial date is anticipated in the summer of 2030.”
He added that he would be making an application for bail to allow his client to “return home to Bermuda”, where she has a dependent.
Mr Thompson said the defence would not challenge the evidence of officers present at the arrest.
“The onus will be on the defence, and witnesses are likely to be coming from abroad — both from Bermuda, where the defendant lives, and from Jamaica,” he said.
The judge, Recorder Peter Krepski, asked the defence to submit a request to the Foreign Office for witnesses to give evidence from abroad and to file a date for Ms Taylor’s bail application.
Ms Taylor, who appeared in court wearing a fur-collared grey jacket and gold earrings, was bailed ahead of her trial on August 27, 2030.
She is wearing an electronic tag as part of her bail conditions and is living at an address in Nottingham.
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