Cassie Sainsbury’s moment of truth looms

CASSIE Sainsbury is due to face the courts again and her fate may hinge on whether she can prove a very uncommon defence.

Accused Australian drug mule Cassie Sainsbury appeared in a Bogota court. Picture Gary Ramage

CASSIE Sainsbury is due to face the courts again overnight and she’s find out whether her latest roll of the dice will save her — or condemn her.

Ever since the Australian was arrested at a Bogota airport in April carrying 5.9kg of cocaine in her luggage, differing stories have emerged about the drugs got there.

Sainsbury initially denied she knew about them, with her family telling media she believed she was buying headphones as gifts for her friends and family attending her wedding.

Conflicting stories flew around about her reason for visiting Colombia, including that she was trying to build a fitness business and then that she was working for a cleaning business owned by a relative, who later denied this was true.

This all went out the window when Sainsbury fronted court last month, having struck a deal with the Colombian Fiscalia, the country’s attorney-general that was expected to involve her admitting her guilt.

The plea bargain agreement would have seen her sentence limited to six years with the possibility of release after three.

But the drama was far from over though.

Just when Sainsbury’s matter seemed about to be settled, the South Australian woman chose that moment to tell the court she had been forced to carry the drugs by drug sellers who threatened to kill her mother and fiance.

Cassandra Sainsbury attends her hearing in Bogota. Picture: Vanessa Hunter/The Australian

During court proceedings, questioning drilled into her state of mind at the time of the crime.

“Are you asking me if I intended to commit the crime of trafficking the drugs?” Sainsbury asked the judge after a change of interpreter.

Senior judge Sergio Leon answered: “What I am saying is the prosecutor has stated in the plea that you have committed this crime with the intention, do you agree? Were you under threat to take drugs with you?”

Sainsbury said: “Si.”

“Who threatened you?” the judge asked.

“I don’t know the exact person,” she said.

“How did this threat happen?”, she was asked.

“Because I didn’t want to take any packaging anywhere,” she said.

“What would have happened if you didn’t?” the judge wanted to know.

“I was told my partner and ­family would be killed,” Sainsbury said.

Her defence is an unusual one in Colombia, according to Fiscalia spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Rodrigo Soler.

“The first stage of the mule is denial,” Soler told The Australian.

“The second stage will be ­accepting and always blaming the money issue. After this, it is very likely to hear people say they were cheated into taking luggage for someone else, but it is not very likely to hear there were threats against a family.

“It is up to the Attorney-­General to look into that but it is not likely or very common.”

It’s just another twist in Sainsbury’s tale, which has proved very difficult to pin down.

After news of her arrest broke and differing versions of her story began appearing in the media, even wilder claims began to emerge about her alleged past as a sex worker. Former colleagues even accused her of being a compulsive liar.

Cassie’s family members initially said she was innocent. Picture: Tait Schmaal.

Fiance Scott Broadbridge (right) also provided conflicting explanations for Cassie’s actions. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

Sainsbury’s latest version of events may see her get a reduced sentence but if the threat cannot be proved, it may see her sentence increased instead because it may jeopardise her plea deal.

The 22-year-old is facing more than 20 years in jail if the deal doesn’t go through.

There have already been suggestions Sainsbury’s life is in danger if she cooperates with authorities and identifies who she was in contact with.

One Colombian security expert told The Australia this depended on deep she was in the organisation.

“If she knows a lot of things they will give her a private cell so she is away from other prisoners,” he said.

But this may not be enough to protect her.

“With money you can do anything in prison. For $US1000 you can have somebody killed.”

Cassie Sainsbury was arrested with 5.8 kilograms of cocaine in her suitcase, at the El Dorado International Airport in Bogota in April 12, 2017. Picture: Colombia’s Anti-narcotics Police/AFP