OPINION: Put your pitchforks down, Corby has done her time

YOU'D think that Schapelle Corby had done something really, really bad.

Schapelle Corby did nine years in a Bali prison. Picture: Firdia Lisnawati

YOU'D think that Schapelle Corby had done something really, really bad.

I'm talking so bad that it would justify some of the public backlash against her visiting Bundaberg and the NewsMail's somewhat simple coverage of her stopping by the Bundaberg Rum factory.

Corby was convicted of attempting to smuggle marijuana into Bali.

While debate in Australia centred around whether she was guilty or not, she spent nine years in a tough, foreign jail.

She did her time.

Schapelle Corby at the Bundaberg Rum factory. Picture: Instagram

To give some perspective, there are manslaughter convictions following coward punch attacks that have resulted in prison sentences as short as four years.

Yet the public is intent on vilifying her.

Heck, half the people calling for Schapelle to face a firing squad (and yes, there are people on the NewsMail's Facebook page calling for this) probably have their Ned Kelly T-shirts on as you read this.

Kelly is celebrated nationally, yet he took lives.

Then there are people such as the late Chopper Read, a convicted killer many people simply forgave.

Mike Tyson was charged with battery, rape and assault - yet if we'd announced he'd popped into Bundy I can almost guarantee the negative backlash would be minimal to non-existent ... people would likely be excited.

Corby has been making the most of her freedom by travelling around the country. Picture: Instagram

The NewsMail was accused of glorifying drug crime by sharing news that Corby was in town - actually no, we weren't.

We're a news outlet who was sharing the fact that a household name was in town. We'd do that with any household name.

Hundreds of comments were posted to our Facebook page telling us we should be ashamed for our coverage of Corby's visit and saying simply awful things about a person commenters have never met.

When I touched base with Schapelle on Thursday night to ask if she like to talk to give some comments on her trip to Bundy she politely declined, said she was having a lovely time and thanked me for contacting her.

She was entirely gracious, when of all people, she probably would have had the right to bite back for all she's been through.

It's time to put the pitchforks down, accept that Schapelle has become a household name (just as she has had to) and stop bullying a person who has served their time.