Melissa Reid and Michaella McCollum,the two British Women plead guilty of smuggling cocaine

The two British women accused of trying to smuggle £1.5million of cocaine out of Peru will receive a dramatically shorter sentence than they could have after pleading guilty

Melissa Reid and Michaella McCollum Connolly admitted trying to board a flight from Lima to Spain on August 6 knowing they had 24lb of the class-A drug in their suitcases

The maximum sentence they can receive is six years and eight months - but if they had pleaded not guilty and been convicted, they could have faced as much as 15 years in a Peruvian prison.

The women will be eligible for parole within three years, allowing them to return home, while it has also been suggested that they could be transferred to Britain to serve part of their sentences.

Melissa Reid, right, and Michaella McCollum are escorted from a truck by police at Sarita Colonia prison ahead of their court appearance

The pair were handcuffed as they were taken from Virgen de Fatima Prison on the outskirts of the capital, to a court in the city centre wearing their own clothes