When Michaela McCollum was serving her sentence for drug smuggling in a Peruvian jail, she may have thought things could not get any worse.  She was wrong.

Nothing could have prepared her for the mauling she would get from the keyboard warriors on social media in Ireland, in light of her recent RTE interview.  As the interview unfolded, derisory remarks were hurled by viewers onto twitter, expressing disbelief at her story, and hitting out at the interviewer for not asking her the 'hard' questions.

They even had caustic remarks to make about the young woman's appearance; past or present – she couldn't win – they criticised 'that bun' she wore her hair in when she was apprehended at the airport, and her wholesome appearance during the interview.

One tweet, bizarrely, even criticised her ankles.  That was the tone of much of the commentary which soon had the unfortunate Tyrone woman topping the twitter trends the night of the interview.

What is interesting is Michaela's assertion that she is 'a good person.'  She also indicated that she wanted a chance to demonstrate that.  The irony is in the way the self-appointed twitter judiciary expressed disbelief at her aspirations to goodness.

Michaela clearly identifies herself with 'goodness' despite her mistakes, while many on social media were demonstrating the badness they purported to decry - the unwillingness to show compassion, to allow someone a second chance.

The bible parable of the prodigal son comes to mind.  Far from killing the fatted calf in celebration at her moral turnaround, social media commentators were more like the son who had remained faithfully at home, who was resentful and jealous of the fuss being made of the revenant.

The thing is, Michaela, like the Prodigal son, was lost, and then found.  Only she knows how truly lost she was, from her description of her life leading up to that fateful incident.  But she has had the time to think about her mistakes – far more time that anyone sending impulsive judgmental tweets about her life has had.

She had the grace to admit she was wrong, and realizes the devastation that could have been caused to lives if her smuggling efforts had been successful.  It wasn't easy for her, just as it is never easy for anyone genuinely trying to turn their life around.  But she deserves credit for aspiring to being a better person.

It gives her a dignity sadly lacking on social media.