Three Brits who had been warned they faced the death penalty for smuggling drugs into Bali hidden in Angel Delight packets were today let off with just a one-year prison sentence.
The Indonesian court instead gave 12-month prison terms to the three British nationals, all from Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex, who had been accused of drug running on the resort island.
Jonathan Christopher Collyer, 38, and Lisa Ellen Stocker, 39, were arrested on February 1 after being stopped at Bali’s international airport with 17 packages of cocaine that weighed nearly a kilogram, according to public court records.
They appeared in court alongside Phineas Ambrose Float, 31, who was allegedly due to receive the packages from them and was arrested a few days later in February.
The trio appeared in distinctive white and red prison uniforms before a panel of judges at Denpasar District Court this morning.
Presiding judge Heriyanti declared that all three suspects had violated article 131 of Indonesian Narcotic law – but said he was reducing the sentence because they had admitted their offences and had behaved ‘politely’.
All three defendants stated that they accepted the verdict and would not file an appeal. The time served since their arrest in February will count towards their sentence, meaning they should be released early next year.
The shorter sentence was a surprise as convicted drug traffickers, especially those caught with large quantities, have in the past been executed by firing squad in Indonesia, including foreign nationals.
The trio had been warned they faced the death penalty for smuggling drugs into Bali, hidden in Angel Delight packets
The presiding judge said he was reducing the sentence because they had admitted their offences and had behaved ‘politely’
Jonathan Christopher Collyer, 38, and Lisa Ellen Stocker, 39, were arrested on February 1 after being stopped at Bali’s international airport with 17 packages of cocaine
If the quantity is large but not enough for the death penalty, life in prison is a common sentence. The country has upheld a moratorium on the death sentence since 2017.
It is alleged that they were caught with 17 packages of cocaine in total, with a value of £296,000. The trio did not comment as they were led to cells.
They had been given hope of a merciful sentence when another British man arrested for allegedly taking a package of drugs from a taxi driver avoided the death penalty last month.
Thomas Parker, from Cumbria, was arrested near Kuta beach in January after allegedly collecting a package from a taxi driver on a nearby street.
The package contained slightly over a kilogram of MDMA, a party drug and the main ingredient in ecstasy, according to a lab test result cited in court documents.
Parker, a 32-year-old electrician by trade, was initially charged with drug trafficking, but the Denpasar District Court reportedly handed him just 10 months for drug possession.
Parker repeatedly expressed his remorse in his final plea and asked the panel of three judges to consider his situation and impose a lenient sentence.
‘I am very sorry and apologise, I know it was a mistake,’ Parker said, ‘I promise not to repeat it again, because I really didn’t know that (the package) was drugs.’
They had been given hope of a merciful sentence when another British man arrested for allegedly taking a package of drugs from a taxi driver was spared the death penalty
The three accepted the sentence and indicated that they will not file appeals
The time served since their arrest in February will count towards their sentence, meaning they should be released early next year
When asked if he had any statement to make to the media after the sentence, Collyer said: ‘Always check what is in your bag before you travel.’
On whether he felt any remorse, he replied: ‘Ya…Sorry’ when he was asked if he had anything to say to the Indonesian government.
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