Schapelle Corby may have trouble adjusting to life back home, says mum

AS SCHAPELLE Corby’s homecoming nears, her Logan mother has spoken of her fears at how the freed drug smuggler will adjust.

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SCHAPELLE Corby’s mum has broken her silence ahead of her daughter’s long-awaited return to Australia this weekend, saying she can’t wait to welcome her home

“I’m getting excited now – it’s been 12-and-a-half years coming,” Rosleigh Rose said.

But Ms Rose said she was worried about how her daughter would adjust to life back in Australia and feared she could even develop agoraphobia – a fear of going out in public.

She revealed Corby had mixed emotions about leaving her Sumatran boyfriend Ben Panangian, whom she met in Bali’s Kerobokan prison in 2006.

The Courier-Mail spoke to Ms Rose as she visited her elder daughter Mercedes’ home at Tugun on the Gold Coast, where Schapelle could live after she is deported from Bali. Mercedes is currently in Bali to accompany her sister home.

Ms Rose has made regular trips to Bali but said she had not visited her daughter for two years.

“We talk all the time by phone or Skype but it’s going to be wonderful to finally have her home,” she said.

“She’s got mixed emotions (about leaving Panangian), but it’s out of her hands. I don’t bring it up with her because it’s not a nice subject.”

Schapelle Corby’s mother Rosleigh Rose at home in Loganlea. Picture: Marc Robertson

Corby could be banned from going back to Indonesia and Panangian could struggle to get a visa for Australia because of his drug convictions.

“When she gets here and settles in, we’ll just have to make sure we get her out and about,” she said.

“She hasn’t been able to leave the house in Bali for a couple of weeks because all the media have been camped outside.”

Ms Rose said that after flying back into Brisbane on Sunday, her daughter would “hide first” from an expected media pack.

She would not reveal whether Corby would live with her at Loganlea, with Mercedes at Tugun, or elsewhere.

“It hasn’t been sorted yet – we’re taking it one day at a time and kind of playing it by ear,” she said.

“We’ll be trying to get her back into the swing of things so she feels confident.”

Ms Rose said there was “definitely” no media deal for Corby to talk about her homecoming, but would not rule out one in the future.

Asked if there would be a big family celebration for the homecoming, Ms Rose smiled and said: “What do you think?”

Schapelle Corby with her boyfriend Ben Panangian.