Brit, 21, Arrested At Turkey Airport Makes Desperate Defence Plea As He Faces 30 Years In Prison

A British lad who was busted smuggling a suitcase full of cannabis into Istanbul Airport from Bangkok, Thailand, has given his side of the story in an attempt to avoid a lengthy prison term.

Taylor Johnson and girlfriend Holly Cooper, both 21, were actually both detained as they were about to make their connecting flight back to London, with Taylor allegedly being beaten up by Turkish police, according to his family.

Both were arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling, but Holly has since returned to the UK after a judge in Turkey believed her plea that she had no knowledge of the drugs.

However, Taylor remains in custody and is looking at a minimum of 10 years and maximum of 30, but not to worry – he’s got a totally believable story that is going to completely hook, line and sinker the entire Turkish justice system.

As per The Sun, Taylor explained to the court in Istanbul that he had agreed to transport the suitcase after being threatened by a man he was involved in a car crash with.

Taylor told the court through an interpreter: “The person involved in the accident had obtained my details.

“About a week later, he began threatening both me and my family. He demanded £3,000 from me. I told him I did not have the money. He then instructed me to travel to Thailand and bring back an item located there to the United Kingdom.

“He told me it was a specially designed suitcase, so I did not know it contained drugs. I then called my girlfriend and told her I was going to Thailand on holiday, asking whether she wanted to come with me. She agreed. Everyone paid for their own ticket.”

Taylor insists that he did not know what was inside the suitcase, and that his girlfriend had no knowledge of the real reason for their trip to Thailand.

Once in Thailand, he said he was called by person who was threatening him and instructed to collect a suitcase at his hotel reception desk.

Taylor said the suitcase was locked and that he only found out what was inside when he got to Turkey and got busted for drug smuggling. He was just as shocked as anyone! He thought it was a suitcase full of mangos, or something.

He told the court: “I apologise. Had I known that the suitcase contained drugs, I would never have done such a thing.”

When girlfriend Holly was asked why she didn’t find it weird that her boyfriend was travelling back with a new suitcase he didn’t have while flying out to Thailand, she told the judge his old suitcase had been damaged so she assumed he’d bought a new one while out there. Smart! Clearly was ready for that one.

Taylor is currently being held in custody in Maltepe Prison in a dorm for foreign inmates. His sentencing is next month, and his legal team are set to apply for any prison time served to be done in a UK jail.

So that’s a small mercy right there if they manage to pull it off, because I’m pretty sure he’s ending up with at least some prison time, whether the judge buys his story or not.

If only they’d have made it all the way back to London and got busted there, who knows? Taylor may have got away with a slap on the wrist. In Turkey, though? No chance.

For the British pensioner facing life in prison after he was found with £200,000 of meth in Chile, click HERE.