Brit ‘drug mules' avoid death penalty over £300k plot in Bali as court reveals short sentence due to ‘polite behaviour'
The trio from Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex were stopped at Bali's international airport in February with 17 packages of cocaine, according to court documents.
5
5
5
Lisa Stocker, 39, a mum-of-three, and her partner, Jon Collyer, 39, had travelled from the UK via Qatar and were stopped in Indonesia's capital after a routine airport x-ray detected suspicious packages.
The couple first appeared in court on February 3 alongside Phineas Float, 31, who was accused of receiving the packages at an airport hotel.
Presiding judge Heriyanti said on Thursday morning that all three suspects had violated article 131 of Indonesian Narcotic law.
But Heriyanti added that the trio had admitted their offences and behaved "politely", and as a result, he was reducing their sentence.
All three defendants said that they accepted the verdict and would not file an appeal.
They have been serving time since February, which will count towards their sentence.
This means they are expected to be released early next year.
In the past, convicted drug traffickers - especially those caught with large amounts - have been executed by firing squads in Indonesia.
Those who escape the death penalty are often sentenced to life imprisonment.
In mid-July, lead prosecutor Made Dipa Umbara suggested the trio might be able to avoid a serious prison sentence.
New CCTV of Brit 'mule' Bella May Culley 'smuggling £200k of cannabis' released as cops slam her claims she was coerced
He announced they will ask to "sentence the defendants to one year in prison" each, minus the time already served.
Umbara noted that all three had behaved well in court, apologised for their role in the smuggling plot and promised not to reoffend.
On July 15, Ms Stocker broke down in tears as she told the court she had been conned into carrying illicit packages.
She claimed a friend gave her the packages of Angel Delight in the UK and asked her to take them to Bali.
Ms Stocker said in June: "Jon and I had been to Bali twice carrying packages from [him]. I was shocked after finding out it was cocaine."
In mid-July, she again claimed she had no idea that her suitcase was full of narcotics.
Her partner, Mr Collyer, admitted what they did was "very stupid" as he told Judge Heriyanti: "I won't do it again."
Mr Float remained quiet as he sat in court after being involved in a shouting match during a previous hearing.
Back in June, while walking to the courtroom for the first day of his trial he yelled at journalist "f*** off".
5
5
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
8 minutes ago
- BBC News
Head monk at China's Shaolin Temple under criminal probe
Shi Yongxin, the abbot of the world-renowned Shaolin Temple, is being investigated for offences including embezzlement, "improper relationships with multiple women" and "having illegitimate children", the temple a statement on Sunday, Shaolin temple said multiple departments were jointly investigating Mr Shi and more information would be made public in due 1,500-year-old Shaolin Temple, located in a mountain range in central China's Henan province, attracts thousands of disciples every year - some from across the Shi, who has been Shaolin Temple's abbot since 1999, has earned the nickname "CEO monk" for transforming the institution into a global brand. Under his leadership, the temple started opening schools outside China and formed a travelling troupe of monks who performed Shaolin kung fu shows - the temple's signature style of martial of Shi's arrest was the most read topic on Weibo on Monday morning. The last post on his own Weibo account, which has more than 880,000 followers and had been updated daily with Buddhist teachings, is dated 24 July. Shi also came under scrutiny in 2015 for allegedly having sexual relations with women and embezzling temple funds. He also allegedly received expensive gifts from companies and local governments, including a Volkswagen SUV and a robe with gold was investigated at the time for embezzlement and fathering several children, but was later cleared of the an interview with BBC Chinese in 2015, Mr Shi was asked about the allegations of corruption and affairs with women. "If there were a problem, it would have surfaced long ago," he said at the Temple also came under fire in 2015 over a plan to build a nearly $300m temple complex which also included a hotel, a kung fu school and a golf name "Shaolin" has gained prominence in pop culture over the years, including being the title of a 1982 film starring Jet Li. The temple is referenced in songs by American hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan and inspired a spinoff of the video game Mortal Kombat.
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text review – do we really need to see these criminals on the toilet?
Sure, they may be trafficking drugs and firearms and plotting murders, but – really – organised criminal gangs are just like you and me. Operation Dark Phone: Murder By Text opens with a reconstruction of a British gang leader texting one of his crew (some scenes have been dramatised, we are told, but all SMS messages are real). 'You OK bro?' asks the associate. 'Yeah, just making brekkie,' our fearsome crim replies, sending a picture of what appears to be a bowl of porridge and cucumber. Very weird breakfast but, look, that's not the point. The point is that Operation Dark Phone – Channel 4's new four-parter about how police infiltrated a shady encrypted phone network – is littered with so-bad-they're-actually-just-bad reconstructions of this smug, shirtless character swaggering around his greige Dubai penthouse. As well as snaps of his food, we must watch him on the bog with his Calvins around his ankles; taking mirror selfies of his tattooed gym bod; and reclining in bed with an LED tooth-whitening kit in his mouth. It's less Tony Soprano, more Joey Essex. Channel 4 provided one episode for review, which is a shame because the other half of the programme is pretty interesting. Away from the reconstructions, this is a documentary about how the UK's National Crime Agency gained access to that encrypted network alongside their European counterparts for 74 days. It was, says the NCA's Marni Roberts, 'like being down a dark pipe, and suddenly putting a bright light on.' Elsewhere, her colleague Matt Horne describes EncroChat as 'the LinkedIn of organised crime'. However, it was also totally anonymous: once inside, it was down to the NCA to piece together clues such as addresses and photos to work out who the gang members were. (Luckily, our man – codenamed Live-long – sent a selfie to a group chat, which helped things along nicely). EncroChat offered a treasure trove of information, but that data was also delivered to law enforcement with a 24-hour delay. As such, when it came to thwarting the very real threats to life discussed in the messages, they were often operating on borrowed time. Sometimes, they were too late. As investigator Mick Pope puts it after a particularly shocking few days in north-west England: ''Eckin' hell, Warrington's turned into the fuckin' wild west over the weekend.' If soundbites like that make Operation Dark Phone sound less than serious, then rest assured there are some truly heinous characters at the centre of it. As well as swapping pictures of their porridge, Live-long and his gang casually arranged acid attacks as if they were ordering takeaways. His rival, Ace Prospect, was also on EncroChat; when one of his underlings expressed his reservations at launching a grenade into an enemy's garden, Ace said it would be fine, because their child was six months old, so too young to pick it up. When the documentary zooms in on just how dangerous these people are, it is chilling. But it also makes the dramatic parts feel even tackier. Another problem: an alias of one of the criminals was Top Shag, another was Ball Sniffer. I know, I know, the texts are all supposed to be real and verbatim. But surely they could have changed those names a little? Watching NCA agents keep a straight face while discussing Ball Sniffer's activities feels like something only Chris Morris could have masterminded. The real tragedy here, though, is that Operation Dark Phone would have been interesting enough in its own right, without a cringey sideshow. The series was made by the team behind 24 Hours in Police Custody, notable for finding the drama and discomfort in the everyday. Not every series can be a fly-on-the-wall affair, but this goes too far the other way, and risks glamorising these men. If that sounds far-fetched, consider that Ace Prospect is shown enjoying sushi and acupuncture at an 'unknown location' in Asia, which looks amazing. As we learn, of course, crime does not pay, especially when you are as incompetent as this lot who – as well as sending selfies – also ended up selling weapons to their rivals by mistake. But in trying to make this into a piece of millennial-friendly true crime, it feels as if Operation Dark Phone gives the bad guys too much of a starring role. The NCA clearly did all the hard work here – here's hoping we get to hear some more about it. Operation Dark Phone: Murder by Text is on Channel 4.
The Sun
6 hours ago
- The Sun
Boy, 11, among 2,000 kids arrested last year for dealing heroin, cocaine and amphetamine, The Sun can reveal
A BOY of 11 was among almost 2,000 under-17s arrested last year for dealing drugs including heroin, cocaine and amphetamine, The Sun can reveal. Police figures show an average of about 40 children aged 16 or younger were held every week in England and Wales on suspicion of peddling Class A substances. Experts believe many are vulnerable victims of county lines gangs who are coerced into transporting drugs from one area to another, often across police and local authority boundaries. The 43 forces in England and Wales, plus British Transport Police, released figures after a Freedom of Information request. They showed that 1,914 under-17s were nabbed for either selling drugs — or having such huge quantities they were suspected of being dealers. The 11-year-old was held in Wiltshire. The forces for Merseyside, Northamptonshire and Hampshire did not provide figures so the true total would be higher. London saw most arrests, with 219 — including seven 13-year-old boys. Greater Manchester had 128, two involving boys of 12. One was trying to deal in Class A drugs and the other attempted to supply cannabis. The same force nicked a boy of 13 for trying to sell heroin. West Midlands Police arrested 114 under-17s, including two girls of 16 over Class A drugs. Leicestershire saw 108 arrests, with children pulled in for allegedly dealing in LSD, ecstasy, cocaine, cannabis and heroin. Sussex cops made 102 arrests, two of boys aged 13 on suspicion of dealing in crack and heroin. Anastasia de Waal, of the Civitas think-tank, said: 'We're continuing to see the exploitation of very vulnerable children here. Such exploitation blights not only these youngsters' childhoods but also their futures. Not enough is being done to prevent it.' Lynn Perry, chief executive of Barnardo's, added: 'Children who are exploited are often forced to commit crimes by being coerced, threatened and made to feel like there's no way out.' Ministers want to bring in a law so drug kingpins who force kids into county lines gangs can be jailed for up to ten years. 1
