Lindsay Sandiford, 64, has been locked up on death row in Bali for the last 12 years after she was caught with £1.6million worth of cocaine in her suitcase, which she was attempting to smuggle into Indonesia
A British mum is set to face court today in Bali, accused of smuggling £300,000 worth of cocaine into Indonesia hidden in packets of Angel Delight.
Lisa Stocker, 39, along with her partner Jon Collyer, 39, and Phineas Float, 31, all hailing from East Sussex, could be sentenced to death if found guilty.
Another Brit, Lindsay Sandiford, has been languishing on death row in Bali for the past 12 years after being caught attempting to smuggle £1.6million worth of cocaine into Indonesia in her suitcase.
Indonesia’s punishment for drug smuggling is notoriously harsh, with most culprits facing the death penalty.
The execution method is a chilling firing squad. Convicts are led to a grassy area where they can choose to sit or stand before armed soldiers aim for their hearts, reports the Daily Record.
If a convict survives the initial firing squad, the commander is then required to deliver a fatal shot to the head.
Executions in Indonesia are carried out infrequently, with most inmates waiting on death row for over a decade. The last executions in Indonesia occurred in 2015 and currently, 130 people, including Lindsay Sandiford, are awaiting their fate, according to Mirror reports.
Sandiford, a former legal secretary from Redcar in the North East, had spent many years working in management at a law firm in Cheltenham. She was evicted from her rented home in the town due to unpaid rent.
The mum-of-two, who had split from her husband, decided to relocate to India in 2012.
However, upon her arrival in Bali from Bangkok in Thailand on 19 May 2012, she was arrested after a large amount of cocaine was found in her luggage. Sandiford maintained that she had been forced to carry the Class A drugs by a criminal gang, who had threatened her family if she didn’t comply.
But, the grandmother dramatically changed her story when she was told a conviction for drug trafficking would lead to the death penalty.
Overwhelmed, she admitted to officers that she had been asked to transport the drugs by an antiques dealer named Julian Ponder, a Brit living in Bali, and his partner Rachel Dougall.
Sandiford even agreed to take part in a police sting operation to catch the pair, along with a third person, Paul Beales.
After a search of Ponder’s home, both he and Sandiford were charged with drug trafficking.
There was no evidence linking Dougall and Beales to the same crime, resulting in them being charged with lesser offences.
Sandiford’s legal team argued that she had been forced into transporting the drugs and was dealing with mental health problems.
Their appeals were dismissed and she was found guilty – even though the prosecution had requested a 15-year prison sentence instead of the death penalty.
Dougall was found guilty of failing to report a crime and was sentenced to a year behind bars, while Beales was convicted of possessing hashish and handed a four-year sentence.
Ponder was cleared of drug smuggling but was found guilty of narcotics possession, resulting in a six-year prison term.
Despite the prosecution’s pleas, on 22 January 2013, judges handed her a death sentence.
Sandiford lodged an appeal against the decision, but she had depleted all her funds and couldn’t afford legal representation.
A fundraising campaign successfully gathered enough money to fly an Indonesian lawyer to Bali for her appeal, which was sadly dismissed.
Sandiford then took her case to the Indonesian Supreme Court, but this appeal was also turned down.
Since then, the grandmother has been held in Kerobokan Prison, Bali.
The prison, originally built to house just 300 inmates, is currently home to over 1,400 men and women.
Riots and violence from guards are regular occurrences.
While incarcerated, Sandiford spends her time knitting items, which she then sells to raise money for her legal appeals.
She has even started teaching other prisoners how to knit.
However, the strain of spending such a long time on death row is taking its toll on Sandiford, who became friends with suitcase murderer Heather Mack during her time in prison.
Mack served a 10-year sentence for the murder of her mother, whose body was then stuffed into a suitcase by her boyfriend.
Mack received a 10-year sentence while her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer was sentenced to 18 years in 2015 after they were found guilty of murdering Sheila von Wiese-Mack.
Mack noted that during her stint in the slammer, Sandiford appeared increasingly isolated.
Mack said: “I am friends with Lindsay but she has been difficult to speak to recently.
“She spends all day pretty much alone in her cell and doesn’t mix so much with the other prisoners.
“She snaps at me for no reason but I still make an effort with her.”
In a chilling conversation with Mack, Lindsay disclosed the moment of sheer dread when she saw two fellow inmates be summarily executed over drug offences.
Lindsay’s anguish was vividly described by Mack: “They had turned their lives around and were different people to when they were convicted, so everyone thought they would be OK.
“But when Lindsay witnessed them being taken away to face death, she realised that her own end was nearing. That’s when the stark reality set in.”
Now Lindsay has expressed a haunting final desire as she conceded: “She has said she wants to die.”
In an intimate confession to Mack, Lindsay admitted: “It won’t be a hard thing for me to face anymore.
“I might not have chosen this kind of end, but then again, dying in agony from cancer isn’t exactly appealing either.
“I do feel I can cope with it. But when it happens I don’t want my family to come. I don’t want any fuss at all. The one thing certain about life is no one gets out alive.”
Despite facing the grim reality of death row, Lindsay Sandiford exudes a remarkable sense of strength, expressing how “blessed” she feels to have witnessed her sons grow into men and to have met her grandchildren.
Undaunted by her fate, Lindsay asserts: “My attitude is ‘If you want to shoot me, shoot me. Get on with it’.”
Lindsay Sandiford’s fight continues as she remains on death row.
