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Edinburgh Airport cocaine mule wins sentence appeal

National Crime Agency Mug shot of Kristopher Purvis - only his face and neck can be seen. He has light brown or ginger coloured hair and a beard, cut short. He has a neutral expression.National Crime Agency
Kristopher Purvis acted as a courier to pay off a debt

A man caught smuggling £5m of cocaine from Mexico at Edinburgh Airport has successfully appealed his sentence.

Kristopher Purvis was carrying 45kg (99lbs) of the Class-A drug when he was stopped by a Border Force officer in July last year.

The 35-year-old, who claimed he had only brought back four sombreros, was jailed for 10 years in April after itting being concerned in the supply of cocaine and in the fraudulent evasion of importing controlled drugs.

His lawyers challenged the sentence as excessive and judges have now agreed eight years and six months would be "appropriate".

Lord Summers selected a starting point for his sentence as 15 years but then reduced it by a third as he said Purvis pled guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Appeal judges Lady Wise and Lord Doherty said the headline sentence should have been lower but disagreed that the plea came at the earliest possible time.

Purvis, of Mann Crescent, Murton, in County Durham, tendered his guilty pleas to the charge in March this year at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The court heard that he arrived at Edinburgh Airport after flying from Mexico via Paris before he was stopped.

He and his companion each had a large black suitcase and Purvis was also carrying a bag with four multi-coloured sombreros.

Prosecutor Brian Gill KC told the court: "He said that the only thing that he had acquired in Mexico was the sombreros."

A search of the cases found 15 vacuum-sealed packages covered in mustard to put off sniffer dogs.

The maximum street value of the drugs was in excess of £5.6m.

Purvis was told he was going to be questioned and responded: "It's all mine, my mate has nothing to do with it. I put it in his case."

The court heard that Purvis stood to have a £5,000 debt wiped out and to be paid £20,000 to bring the drugs into the UK.

Defence solicitor advocate Simon Collins argued that the sentence imposed on the first offender was excessive and said he had "a limited involvement" in what would have been a very lucrative transaction for others with more significant roles in the drugs trade.