Cassie Sainsbury: Father breaks his silence as claims of debts emerge
UPDATED VIDEO: THE distressed father of accused drug smuggler Cassie Sainsbury, who is held in Colombia, says he stands by his daughter as claims that she left the Yorke Peninsula owing debts emerge.
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THE distressed father of accused drug smuggler Cassie Sainsbury says he stands by his daughter as claims that she left the Yorke Peninsula owing debts emerge.
Stuart Sainsbury on Wednesday broke his silence on his daughter’s plight as the communities where Ms Sainsbury grew up and lived until recently delivered mixed messages on her past.
Friends of Ms Sainsbury expressed their shock at her arrest, describing her as a friendly and caring woman with no links to drugs.
However, others said she left the region owing thousands of dollars after a failed gym venture.
Mr Sainsbury said he first heard of his daughter’s predicament when he received a Facebook message about it shortly before news broke of her arrest in Colombia.
Ms Sainsbury’s mother Lisa Evans and sister Khala made a public plea for help in the media on Sunday, about three weeks after Ms Sainsbury was taken into custody on April 11.
“It’s really hard — I don’t know what to believe,” Mr Sainsbury, of Warooka on the Yorke Peninsula, said.
His 22-year-old daughter, of Moana south of Adelaide, was caught with 5.8kg of cocaine while trying to board a flight from Bogota to London.
Mr Sainsbury told The Advertiser he would support Ms Sainsbury and wanted her home as soon as possible.
“It’s hard to explain that a father’s love doesn’t change no matter what they do,” he said.
“I love my kid to pieces and I would do anything for her.”
However, Mr Sainsbury said he was at a loss as to how he could help his daughter, admitting Australian officials had not been in touch with him.
“No one has been in contact with me,” he said.
Ms Sainsbury grew up on the Yorke Peninsula where she attended Yorketown High School and worked as a personal trainer before moving to Adelaide.
Business records show Ms Sainsbury registered the Yorke’s Fitness gym on Charles St at Yorketown in May 2015.
The business was deregistered in September last year, shortly before she set off on a six-month “working holiday” cross-crossing the world.
One woman, who did not wish to be identified, said Ms Sainsbury left the Yorke Peninsula owing money to several people.
Other residents said she disappeared from the town very quickly after running the business for about six months.
However friends from the Yorke Peninsula spoke of their shock and disbelief at Ms Sainsbury’s arrest.
Rachel Voigt, 18, of Minlaton, played netball and soccer with Ms Sainsbury and described her as “friendly, caring (and) supportive.”
“Whenever you’d see her she’d have a smile on her face,” she said.
“(I) couldn’t see her doing that.
“From what I’ve known, she was always quiet and steering clear of that sort of thing; like she does the usual have a drink on the weekend with her friends but nothing with drugs.”
Leeanne Michelmore, 49, of Yorketown, was also shocked at Ms Sainsbury’s arrest.
“She would ride her motorbike to our house every morning and get changed at our house and go to school with the girls,” she said.
“There was never a problem.
“I’ve never heard Cassie’s name related to drugs and I just wish her and her dad and (stepmother) Michelle all the best because they’ve got a lot to go through now.”
Ms Michelmore’s daughter Abby, 21, went to Yorketown Area School with Ms Sainsbury and believed she was innocent.
“She was awesome — She was always encouraging; supportive of everything you do,” she said.
“I was heaps surprised to hear about it — I don’t reckon she did it.”
Abby was also a client of Ms Sainsbury’s at Yorke’s Fitness.
Inspirational quotes and gym information is still written on a blackboard in the now-empty gym, which offered 12-month memberships for $795.
“Your mind is a powerful thing — When you fill it with positive thoughts your life will start to change,” one message reads.
“Don’t get distracted by what others are doing. Focus on what you’re doing. This is your journey,” reads another.
Ms Sainsbury’s ex-boyfriend Luke Tape declined to comment when contacted by The Advertiser, as did colleagues at the Edithburgh Newsagency and Delicatessen, where she previously worked.