British woman faces death penalty in Bali drug case

Lindsay Sandiford, a 56-year-old British woman, faces death penalty for smuggling drug in Bali, Indonesia.

09:04 23 January 2013

56-year-old Lindsay Sandiford, who originally from Redcar, Teesside, is now facing death penalty after it had been found that the grandmother was guilty of drug smuggling in Bali, Indonesia.

Sandiford, who was arrested in May 2011, claimed that he had been forced by a criminal gang to smuggle the drugs from Thailand to Bali. Customs officers found 3.8kg of cocaine worth £1.6m in her luggage at Bali airport.

In December, prosecutors announced that they will recommend a 15-year prison sentence, after Sandiford agreed to cooperate in a sting operation during which four other suspects were arrested. These include Britons Rachel Dougall, Paul Beales, and Julian Pounder.

However, Sandiford’s sentence was not reduced to 15 years in prison after the sting operation. A judge panel headed by Mr Amser Simanjuntak explained that Sandiford had damaged Bali’s image as a tourist destination.  

"We find Lindsay Sandiford convincingly and legally guilty of importing narcotics. We found no reason to lighten her sentence.”

 

Meanwhile, Sandiford’s started her witness statement saying: "I would like to begin by apologising to the Republic of Indonesia and the Indonesian people for my involvement.
"I would never have become involved in something like this but the lives of my children were in danger and I felt I had to protect them.