Michaela McCollum Connolly (left) and Melissa Reid receiving food in police compound where their spirits are said to be ‘high’

A BELFAST solicitor is on his way Peru to meet up with Northern Ireland dancer Michaela McCollum Connolly who is being held on cocaine trafficking charges.

Peter Madden from Belfast legal firm Madden & Finucane is flying to Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima.

From there he will travel to a police holding cell where the 20-year-old Dungannon girl and her travelling companion Melissa Reid are being held.

They have been in custody since Tuesday, July 3o after being stopped for trying to traffick £1.5 million worth of cocaine out of Peru on a flight to Madrid in Spain.

Their case was due before prosecutors on Wednesday but has been delayed because of a lack of translator.

The case could be either heard on Friday, August 16 or Monday, August 19. Under Peruvian law the case must be heard by Wednesday, August 21 because of the length of time they have been held in custody.

Initially, the girls were said to have been chain smoking and refusing food.

However, this has been denied by Mr Madden.

On Thursday, reporters outside the police compound said the girls’ spirits appeared to be high despite the prospect of a lengthy period behind bars if convicted.

Reporters on the pavement outside the Lima police anti-drugs headquarters can hear them singing “You’re Just Too Good To Be True”.

The girls are protesting their innocence and are claiming they were forced at gunpoint to take the bags containing the drugs on board with them back to Madrid.

They were stopped after a drugs sniffer dog picked up a narcotics scent from their luggage.