Bali Drug Trial: British Woman Gets Death Sentence

[webfact]

Bali drug trial: British woman gets death sentence

A 56-year-old British woman has been sentenced to death in Indonesia for drug trafficking.

Lindsay Sandiford was arrested in May after Bali police, carrying out a routine customs check, found what they say was 4.8kg of cocaine in the lining of her suitcase.

Mrs Sandiford, from Gloucestershire, has insisted she was set up and coerced into bringing cocaine to the island.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21137649

-- BBC 2013-01-22

[Hedghog]

56,yrs old,

should of known better.

[laurentbkk]

A very suspicious set up of 4.8kg of Cocaine ..... assuming nearly 5kg is easy to see or to feel ....

[Notstupid30]

56,yrs old,

should of known better.

Try saying that to half the expat people who live here ...

Edited January 22, 2013 by Notstupid30

[angsta]

When did she think this was a good idea?

You're a long time dead.

[Boater]

I can see with the help of the British government this will be brought down to life...

But what I do find strange in the case is this lady got the max sentance possible while the other got the absolute min ie 1 year in prison !

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[maturebrit]

I can see with the help of the British government this will be brought down to life...

But what I do find strange in the case is this lady got the max sentance possible while the other got the absolute min ie 1 year in prison !

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

odd that the judge totally ignored the 15 yr recommendation by the prosecutor...very unusual....but death was always an option.

I remember Thatcher appealing for clemency to Malaysia before and they ignored her and face it Malaysia is much more approachable... This lady was so recklessly stupid but there again so many are

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[webfact]

British woman sentenced to death for drug smuggling into Indonesia from Thailand

By Staff Reporter

Lindsay Sandiford, a 56 year old grandmother from the UK admitted being a drug mule for what has been described as “a heavy mob”, and carrying the drugs from Thailand to the Island of Bali

Not a small amount, 3.8 Kg of cocaine was found hidden in her luggage as she arrived on the island in May last year. At the time she claimed she had been forced to carry it by a drug gang based in Thailand.

Sandiford did a deal with the local authorities in which she assisted them in arresting the people she was due to deliver to, and for that she was expecting just 15 years imprisonment but the Judge, in his summary, outlined the fact that she had broken the very strict laws of Indonesia and brought [more...]

Full story: http://www.pattaya103.com/british-woman-death-for-drug-smuggling-from-thailand/

--Pattaya 103 FM 2013-01-22

[KKvampire]

Hypocrisy by governments. This happens to a foreigner in countries in SE Asia such as Thailand, Laos, Mynamar. Being tough for their "image" Whereas the nationals,the drug barons, the traffickers and suppliers continue untouched in the same countries. Largely left alone by law enforcement(often for reasons we all know).

Who else has been offered drugs in Laos and Thailand in the street? I have. The difference is when a foreigner from a western country is caught there is publicity and that "image" word comes up.

Edited January 22, 2013 by KKvampire

[BeforeTigers]

< Snip! > Indonesia, then.

People can be terrible, ugly animals.

Going to kill this woman for breaking your stupid, arbitrary rule. That's civilization right there.

Edited January 23, 2013 by metisdead
: Profanity

[webfact]

BREAKING NEWS: British grandmother, 56, is sentenced to death in Indonesia for drug trafficking after customs police in Bali found £1.6million worth of cocaine in her suitcase

• Lindsay Sandiford, 56, was stopped with cocaine worth £1.6m in suitcase
  
• She was arrested in May and said she had been coerced into carrying drugs
  
• Prosecutors had called for 15 year sentence but judges chose death penalty
  
• Three other Britons were arrested as part of drug smuggling gang
  
• Rachel Dougall, 39, and Paul Beales, 39, given lenient sentences last month
  
• Antiques restorer Julian Ponder, 43, may still face death penalty tomorrow
  
• There are 40 foreigners on death row in Indonesia, but none killed since 2008
  

By MARTIN ROBINSON

A British grandmother has been sentenced to death for trying to smuggle almost 5kg of cocaine into Bali in her suitcase.

Lindsay Sandiford, from Gloucestershire, was arrested in May last year as she entered Indonesia on a flight from Thai capital Bangkok with £1.6million worth of the Class A drug.

State prosecutors had called for the 56-year-old housewife to be jailed for 15 years but there was a gasp in the Bali courtroom today when she was told she would be killed for her crime.

Sandiford slumped back stunned as the judges announced the shock sentence which, if carried out, will see her led into an orchard where she will be executed by firing squad.

Full story: http://www.dailymail...rafficking.html

-- Daily Mail 2013-01-22

[nev]

Well if she got away with it and now living the good life of her immoral earnings she would have won, well she lost let this serve as a lesson to those that want to take this path.

[MegaRanter]

Sad for her loved ones, even her cohorts are brits as well, no connection with the rampaging mob of Africans blamed for all the drug related problems in South East Asia.

[lovelaos]

Sad for her loved ones, even her cohorts are brits as well, no connection with the rampaging mob of Africans blamed for all the drug related problems in South East Asia.

Oh come off it!! 'The rampaging mob of Africans' are blamed for very good reason and you know it.

[transam]

Very sad for the lady. Perhaps for her a big money pay off that has back fired. I personally have no sympathy, she wanted the big buck pay off for doing virtually nothing, we all want that but her route is ruining lives. Don't care who it is, when the offer of big money comes along one sits back and thinks of the risks, your decision, roulette comes to mind, it's a gamble and some lose, she has lost.

[Chicog]

Sandiford slumped back stunned as the judges announced the shock sentence which, if carried out, will see her led into an orchard where she will be executed by firing squad.

I'm sure she'll love it, that sounds quite picturesque. Apart from the getting shot bit.

[webfact]

British woman on Bali death row over cocaine

Michael Bachelard, Amilia Rosa

A BRITISH drug smuggler, Lindsay Sandiford, has been condemned to death by firing squad in Bali for smuggling in 4.8 kilograms of cocaine last year.

The sentence, handed down late on Tuesday, shocked Sandiford, 56, her lawyers and onlookers, because prosecutors had asked for a 15-year jail sentence, and because her four co-accused were let off with much lighter penalties.

Sandiford said nothing when the verdict was handed down but was seen later huddled in the rear of her court cell.

She will now join the Bali Nine smugglers Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan on death row in Kerobokan jail. The Australians are in the midst of last-chance clemency applications.

Sandiford claimed she had smuggled the drugs only because one of her co-accused, Julian Ponder, had threatened to kill her son.

Full story: http://www.smh.com.a...0122-2d5bp.html

-- The Sydney Morning Herald 2013-01-22

[FritsSikkink]

Sad for her loved ones

In another statement read out in court, her son Eliot said he believed his mother was forced into trafficking after a disagreement over rent money she paid on his behalf.

Her loved ones should have taken care of their own problems.

[Locationthailand]

It serves a lesson. Asia for those caught , is intolerant in the extreme. She could have easily gone to authorities over this prior to travelling and had support. The weight of the risk simply tells me the woman is not that smart. Some people really have no idea so sadly grandma, your use-by date has been set and I doubt with the amount you were caught with, there is much chance of appeal.

[KKvampire]

It serves a lesson. Asia for those caught , is intolerant in the extreme. She could have easily gone to authorities over this prior to travelling and had support. The weight of the risk simply tells me the woman is not that smart. Some people really have no idea so sadly grandma, your use-by date has been set and I doubt with the amount you were caught with, there is much chance of appeal.

If Indonesia were stupid enough to murder a British national you may be right .but I doubt they want that publicity

[Briggsy]

The drug smuggling industry in countries like Thailand and Indonesia is a very lucrative business. There is no division between the crooks on one side and senior politicians and top military and police figures on the other. In fact, at the top both hierarchies merge into one. The money always flows upwards.

The last thing these kingpins want is any foreign competition.

[bendejo]

Well if she got away with it and now living the good life of her immoral earnings she would have won, well she lost let this serve as a lesson to those that want to take this path.

Doubt it.

If there is any truth to the connection to a criminal organization be sure there would only be a few thousand quid in it for her, nothing that would allow her to be shopping for real estate. In the past year another female mule was caught (I think in Malaysia) and she told that she was to be paid around US$3,000.

Life is cheap, sometimes people set their own price.

[maturebrit]

It serves a lesson. Asia for those caught , is intolerant in the extreme. She could have easily gone to authorities over this prior to travelling and had support. The weight of the risk simply tells me the woman is not that smart. Some people really have no idea so sadly grandma, your use-by date has been set and I doubt with the amount you were caught with, there is much chance of appeal.

If Indonesia were stupid enough to murder a British national you may be right .but I doubt they want that publicity

not murder..... execute... Indonesia. Malaysia and Singapore make it plain and simple traffickers will face the death penalty and always possible.... to think a British National deserves pref treatment will not help her case

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[pacovl46]

If it's true that the lives of her kids or grandchildren were threatened, which wouldn't surprise me depending on who it was who made the threats, then it's unbelievable that they gave her the death sentence, especially since the prosecution asked for only 15 years!!!

[Credo]

This is an old, and often used excuse, but it fails to hold water most of the time. Unless her kids and grandchildren were actually being held by a group, they were never further than a phone call away to inform them that they were in danger. She was never further than a police officer away to alert them to the whole situation.

The big question is how did this completely innocent lady fall in with such a dangerous group of drug smugglers? Did they pick her at random out of the phone book? I doubt it.

The judges are most likely fed up with the crap, completely unsubstantiated excuses, and have decided a bullet is the best solution to the problem. Including the endless whinging, moaning and weeping by western countries. About 1 month after she's executed, she will be long forgotten by gov'ts and threats of sanctions and what not will disappear.

[marstons]

Well be she is caring now about the consequences of her actions now.Greed as apposed apposed to-coheresed. she know the rules for getting caught and till want a head and did it. If you cant to the time don't do the crime.

"But the judges said there were no mitigating circumstances and the defendant did not appear to care about the consequences of her actions"

[Chicog]

This is an old, and often used excuse, but it fails to hold water most of the time. Unless her kids and grandchildren were actually being held by a group, they were never further than a phone call away to inform them that they were in danger. She was never further than a police officer away to alert them to the whole situation.

The big question is how did this completely innocent lady fall in with such a dangerous group of drug smugglers? Did they pick her at random out of the phone book? I doubt it.

The judges are most likely fed up with the crap, completely unsubstantiated excuses, and have decided a bullet is the best solution to the problem. Including the endless whinging, moaning and weeping by western countries. About 1 month after she's executed, she will be long forgotten by gov'ts and threats of sanctions and what not will disappear.

I tend to agree. I wouldn't be surprised if the kids didn't set her up so they could pocket some money without risking it themselves. Probably thought "who'd stop a sour faced old biddy"?

[uptheos]

If it's true that the lives of her kids or grandchildren were threatened, which wouldn't surprise me depending on who it was who made the threats, then it's unbelievable that they gave her the death sentence, especially since the prosecution asked for only 15 years!!!

Makes you wonder what would have happened if they asked for the death sentence?

[Nigel1500]

This is an old, and often used excuse, but it fails to hold water most of the time. Unless her kids and grandchildren were actually being held by a group, they were never further than a phone call away to inform them that they were in danger. She was never further than a police officer away to alert them to the whole situation.

The big question is how did this completely innocent lady fall in with such a dangerous group of drug smugglers? Did they pick her at random out of the phone book? I doubt it.

The judges are most likely fed up with the crap, completely unsubstantiated excuses, and have decided a bullet is the best solution to the problem. Including the endless whinging, moaning and weeping by western countries. About 1 month after she's executed, she will be long forgotten by gov'ts and threats of sanctions and what not will disappear.

I have no sympathy for drug manufacturers, dealers or mules.

You are 100% correct Credo. The Met would have dealt with this if she had called. I read other reports that it was her son who was threatened. Disgusting if he has coerced his own mother into doing this!!!

[7by7]

I have no sympathy for anyone convicted of a crime in any country who faces the penalty for that crime under that country's law.

Having said that, it does appear that there are mitigating circumstances in this case, circumstances which made the prosecution believe that a custodial sentence would be more suitable.

Unfortunately for this woman, the judges disagreed.

However, there are still several appeal processes her lawyers can, and probably will, follow.

From the BBC

Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire said.......

"We understand that, under Indonesian law, Lindsay has at least two further avenues of appeal through the courts as well as an opportunity to apply for presidential clemency should these be unsuccessful........."

........Most of the 40 foreigners currently on death row in Indonesia have been convicted of drug offences, according to Australia's Lowy Institute for International Policy.

Five foreigners have been executed since 1998, all for drug crimes, but there have been no executions in the country since 2008, it said.