More than five months after being arrested with 5.9 kilograms of cocaine in a Colombian airport, Cassie Sainsbury will be afforded a public platform to tell her side of the story.
A new ‘tell-all interview’ with 60 Minutes will air on Sunday night, marking Sainsbury’s first public statement on her alleged crimes.
In a preview shared by the program, she is asked ‘Whose idea was it? Whose idea was it to make a quick dollar out of carrying cocaine? How did you get here, who talked you into it?’.
Cassie Sainsbury was arrested in April when narcotics police found 5.9 kilograms of cocaine in her luggage, hidden in headphone packets
She is expected to speak publicly for the first time about her charges and tell her version of events in an interview with 60 minutes to air on Sunday night
The clip shows the Adelaide woman sitting down with journalist Liam Bartlett in a cell at the El Buen Pastor women’s prison in Bogota, but while Mr Barlett’s questions are aired, her answers are cut off.
Sainsbury looks bashful as she shyly responds to him, dressed in a blue and white striped shirt teamed with a gold crucifix necklace.
According to a release from 60 Minutes, the interview will be ‘no holds barred’ and will address ‘every element of Sainsbury’s story’.
The 22-year-old was dubbed ‘Cocaine Cassie’ after narcotics police alleged they had found 5.9 kilograms of the drug in her luggage in April this year.
The 22-year-old recently had her plea deal taken away from her, which would have seen her serve a maximum of six years behind bars, when she claimed she had been forced to smuggle the drugs by a cartel which threatened her family
Her story so far has only been told in media snippets, with her parents painting a picture of the kind-hearted ‘girl next door’, former colleagues revealing her past as a sex worker, her fiance Scott Broadbridge sharing their relationship woes and her Uncle Neil damning her as guilty on national television.
Sainsbury was moments away from a sentence reduction to six years last month when she claimed she carried the drugs because her family had been threatened by an anonymous drug cartel, The Australian reported at the time.
The explosive claim, previously unheard by Colombian prosecutors, saw her bargain thrown out the window as they were at odds with her initial statement.
She now faces a maximum of 30 years behind bars, and her indictment hearing has been scheduled for September 26.
Sainsbury’s interview with 60 Minutes will air on September 24 at 8.30pm on Channel 9.
So far, Cassie’s story has been told by her fiancee Scott Broadbridge (left), her parents, former colleagues and her Uncle Neil