Lindsay Sandiford was pictured in a wheelchair as she was freed from Kerobokan jail in Bali after more than a decade on death row, but she faces being locked up in the UK
Drugs mule grandmother Lindsay Sandiford is set to return to the UK after over a decade on death row, but could face immediate imprisonment.
The frail 69 year old was seen in a wheelchair, savouring her first taste of freedom in 13 years as she departed from Bali’s infamous Kerobokan prison. Concealing her face from photographers with a mask, she was swiftly transported to Denpasar International Airport where she boarded a Qatar Airways flight this afternoon.
Her ticket to freedom, a £600 plane ticket funded by the UK, was secured after Keir Starmer brokered a bilateral agreement with Indonesian authorities for Sandiford’s release. She is reportedly in extremely poor health as she embarks on the 20-hour journey back to Britain.
This marks the conclusion of a distressing period in legal secretary Sandiford’s life, during which she received a death sentence for smuggling £1.6million worth of cocaine into Indonesia. The Foreign Office has declined to comment on whether Sandiford will be free or taken into custody upon her arrival in the UK.
However, when questioned about Sandiford’s fate upon her return to Britain, Indonesia’s Deputy Minister for Immigration and Correctional Coordination, I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram, stated: “In England, she will remain in prison.”, reports the Mirror.
Sandiford vacated her cell in Kerobokan jail shortly after 2pm GMT. She was released alongside fellow UK national Shahab Shahabadi, 35, who was arrested in June 2014 and is serving a life sentence for separate drug offences.
The duo were displayed before the media one final time as officials completed repatriation documents at the jail. They then journeyed 45 minutes by vehicle to Denpasar International Airport where they were transferred to UK officials and embarked on a flight for the 8,000-mile trip home.
This is the identical airport where Sandiford was clad in orange prison clothing in 2012 and exhibited to journalists with blocks of the Class A substances stacked on a table before her. The repatriation agreement was executed by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper on October 21 following months of negotiations, officials confirmed.
“This process demonstrates Indonesia’s credibility in the international legal cooperation scheme,” Mataram declared. Indonesian authorities revealed that Sandiford suffers from diabetes and hypertension and requires medical care on home territory.
A source revealed: “Lindsay is extremely unwell. She is desperate to get home and to be with her family. More than a decade in one of the world’s worst prisons has taken its toll on her and she wants nothing more than to get back to the UK.”
Sandiford received a death sentence in 2013 despite asserting that a UK-based drug syndicate coerced her into trafficking the narcotics from Thailand. She has endured 13 years in Bali’s infamous Kerobokan prison, where unsanitary conditions, overcrowding and humidity create exceptionally brutal circumstances.
Foreign Office officials have reportedly been working on the deal for over 18 months, making regular prison visits. Pastor Christine Buckingham, who visited Sandiford in Kerobokan jail last week, told the Mirror: “She is in extremely ill health and she’s very keen to get back and be with her family after these 13 years.”
When asked about her plans upon landing in the UK, Ms Buckingham stated: “We’re deeply grateful to the Indonesian Government and of course the British Government for working this out together. We look forward to her getting home now. She’s very unwell. The most important thing is that she gets home, we need her to be checked medically and then the plan is that she says she will spend as much time as she can with her family.”
Sandiford moved to India in 2012 following her eviction from a rented property in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Upon her arrival in Bali from Bangkok, Thailand, in May 2012, she was apprehended with a stash of cocaine in her luggage.
Sandiford claimed that she had been coerced into transporting the Class A drugs by a criminal gang, who threatened her family if she refused. However, the grandmother dramatically altered her account when informed that a drug trafficking conviction would result in the death penalty.
She confessed to the police that she had been enlisted to transport the drugs by a British antiques dealer. Sandiford even agreed to participate in a police sting operation to nab her accomplices.
Her defence team argued that she had been coerced into smuggling the drugs and was grappling with mental health issues.
However, her numerous appeals were rejected and she was convicted – despite the prosecution recommending a 15-year prison term instead of capital punishment. Last year, the Mirror disclosed that Sandiford was fervently hoping for her release after Indonesia eased their infamously stringent drug trafficking laws.
Indonesia hasn’t executed anyone since 2016. We also revealed that within the nightmarish confines of Kerobokan prison, she earned the moniker “Grandmother” while teaching others to knit.
Some sources claimed she enjoyed special privileges – including medium-rare steak dinners – while others portrayed her as “foul-mouthed, antagonistic”.
She was compelled to bear a life of agony after developing arthritis whilst confined in a cramped 16ft-by-16ft cell she shares with four other female inmates. A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office stated: “We are supporting two British Nationals detained in Indonesia and are in close contact with the Indonesian authorities to discuss their return to the UK.”
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