British pensioner William Eastment has been released from a Chilean prison on health grounds and placed under house arrest as he awaits his fate over alleged drug trafficking charges
The British bowls-playing pensioner accused of acting as an international drug runner has been released from prison in Chile on ill health grounds.
William ‘Billy Boy’ Eastment has been placed under full house arrest, a court in Santiago has ruled, as his case continues. The 80-year-old Briton, who had been held in pretrial detention since May last year, was transferred out of Santiago 1 Penitentiary following a hearing at the Santiago Guarantee Court, where both prosecutors and defence lawyers agreed his physical condition had badly deteriorated.
Eastment, a retired mechanic and keen bowls player, appeared frail as he entered court on Monday wearing a loose white sweatshirt, sitting hunched and following proceedings through a translator. He was arrested during a stopover in Santiago while travelling from Mexico to Australia after police allegedly discovered nearly five kilos of methamphetamine in his luggage. He has consistently maintained he was tricked into carrying the suitcase.
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His lawyer, Macarena Vial, told the court: “He is in a very critical health situation, with chronic problems that have been severely aggravated in Santiago 1. He is a person requiring care, basically. He has a chronic lung disease, a colostomy that poses a constant risk of infection, and a series of other problems.”
Vial detailed the difficulties he faces in managing his condition in custody.
“He has a hernia right below his colostomy, which requires surgery and means he has to use special bags. They are expensive, must be brought from abroad, and the prison doesn’t provide them. Every time his supply runs out, he hasn’t had the medical supplies to contain the waste, constantly exposing himself to the risk of infection,” she said.
Accessing supplies has proved complex. “Obtaining colostomy bags has been quite complex. The family had to transfer funds to the embassy, and from there they bought them and sent them to Santiago. It’s a very difficult coordination because you have to coordinate with the Gendarmerie in a prison that is overwhelmed,” she added.
The court heard Eastment had lost more than three stone in weight during his time in custody. Vial said, “Today, he is practically no longer self-sufficient; the risk of flight is minimal.” Under the ruling, he will serve house arrest in a shelter in western Santiago arranged with support from Chile’s Public Criminal Defence Office, where he will receive daily care and supervision.
The court also ordered steps to secure medical treatment, including enrolment in the national health system and admission to a local family health centre.
“He will be able to access his treatments and they will provide him with the medications he needs. It was a big effort, but it turned out well,” Vial said.
During his detention, Eastment struggled with language barriers and relied on other inmates to communicate.
His lawyer said: “For the first six or eight months, he was with someone who spoke native English, and they formed a very nice friendship. After that, he was more alone.” She added that his emotional state had fluctuated. “At first, he went through some very difficult times because he didn’t see much of a way out. But we’ve tried to support him and give him some hope that this isn’t permanent.
“Even so, he managed to build relationships within the prison. He’s someone who inspires compassion; many people have taken care of him. Right now, he’s in the best condition I’ve seen him in since he was arrested, but it’s still a very fragile condition.”
Before his release, concerns had been mounting over his health. Sources close to the case said he suffered repeated bouts of pneumonia while in custody, alongside other serious underlying conditions. One source said: “His health isn’t good at all. He’s very vulnerable, and being in prison is making everything worse. There’s real concern about how much longer he can cope.” Legal efforts had been underway to avoid a full trial.
“They are negotiating a shortened trial and process,” a source said. “It’s essentially an attempt to resolve the case more quickly, given his condition.” Extradition to the UK has not been considered viable. “The ideal scenario would have been for the prison sentence to be replaced with expulsion from Chile,” a source said. “That does happen in some cases. But under Chilean law, that simply isn’t an option for drug offences.”
Because Eastment entered Chile as a tourist, he was not initially eligible for the national health system and required financial backing to cover treatment costs.
Eastment told prosecutors he believed he had been contacted by individuals posing as representatives linked to the International Monetary Fund and was persuaded to travel. His lawyer said: “In these emails, a person named Carolina, whose surname he does not remember, informed him that one of his relatives in New Zealand had died and that in order to access that person’s inheritance, he had to travel to Auckland, New Zealand, to sign certain documents at a public notary’s office.”
The criminal proceedings against him continue.
