Brit facing 60 years in US jail for 'smuggling cocaine' insists 'I'm not a bad person'

Kim Hall says she met two men on a previous trip who said they had real estate interests in Mexico and invited her for a 'free holiday' - before asking her to carry bags of 'cash' back to the UK

A British beautician who allegedly smuggled £15million of cocaine into the UK has claimed she is “not a bad person”.

Kim Hall says she thought the luggage she was carrying from Mexico to the UK contained two bags of money. The 28-year-old from Middlesbrough was stopped at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on August 18 where she was changing for her Manchester-bound connecting flight.

She was detained after investigators from Homeland Security found 43kg of cocaine inside the two suitcases. She claims she was instructed at gunpoint to take bags of cash back to the UK for a pair of British men after she was offered a free holiday to the Central American country.

Now, she faces up to 60 years in jail in the US. Ms Hall says she met the two men while on a previous holiday in Portugal who told her they had real-estate interests in Mexico. Meanwhile, she claims that her psychiatrist thinks that when she agreed to the trip she may have been in the throes of a manic episode.

Ms Hall has since begged the UK government for help after she was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance and intent to deliver it. The alleged offence falls into the most severe bracket as she was found with more than 900g of the prohibited substance, meaning sentencing could range between 15 and 60 years if found guilty.

She told The Sun: “I'm not a bad person. I've never been in trouble in my life and I'm not guilty of what they are accusing me of. They held a gun to my head and threatened to shoot me.”

Her father, 59-year-old John Hall, has previously told the same outlet that all she is guilty of is “stupidity and naivety”. He said that she was “petrified,” adding she told him, “You don't understand what they were threatening me with”.

The trip to Cancun had lasted a week, and when it was coming to an end she claims the two men asked her to travel back with the bags, supposedly telling her they contained $250k (£195k) in cash. Ms Hall claims she was prepared to do it as there was “no reason not to,” and added that because she believed it was only money she didn’t see “anything wrong with it”.

But when a mix-up led to her missing her flight, she says one of the men threatened her and held a gun to her head causing her to fear for her life if she didn't carry the bags. During her layover, officials in Chicago are reported to have conducted a random bag check when they grew suspicious of her having two suitcases.

When handcuffs were put on her, Ms Hall is reported to have collapsed in tears. She has been fitted with two electrical tags and is under house arrest, only allowed to leave the house twice a week.

She has pleaded not guilty and appears in Chicago’s criminal courthouse this week, where a trial date is expected to be set.