Bali Nine member Matthew Norman arrested by NSW Police for alleged decades-old car theft weeks after return to Australia

A recently returned member of the Bali Nine has been arrested over an alleged car theft that occurred almost two decades ago.

A recently returned member of the Bali Nine has been arrested over an alleged car theft that occurred almost two decades ago and just weeks before his fateful drug smuggling mission out of Indonesia.

Matthew James Norman touched back down in Australia a free man on December 20, after enduring 19 years behind bars for trying to smuggle 334g of heroin out of the country in a suitcase in 2005.

While serving his time inside the ruthless Kerobokan Prison in Bali – and at one point narrowly avoiding the death penalty – an arrest warrant for a car theft back in Sydney was surely low on the list of his concerns.

However Norman’s past caught up with him this week when he discovered NSW Police had not forgotten about it.

Bali Nine member Matthew James Norman, who returned to Australia from jail in Bali in December, has been rearrested over a 2005 car theft. Picture: NewsWire

Norman, who was 18 when he attempted to smuggle drugs into Bali but is now 38, handed himself into officers at Waverley Police Station on Monday for allegedly being the passenger in a car stolen by Bali Nine counterpart Renae Lawrence from Gosford about 4am on March 26, 2005.

Police allege Norman and Lawrence stole a white Ford Laser hatchback and drove for 45 minutes, avoiding two attempts of Highway Patrol officers to use road spikes, before a third attempt brought them to a stop.

The pair allegedly then tried to flee on foot, only to be caught a short time later.

Norman had initially faced court back over the car theft in 2005, charged with the single offence of take with conveyance, but after being granted bail he left the country on his drug smuggling mission out of Indonesia.

Norman was briefly put back behind bars this week by NSW Police when they refused him bail on Monday, but just hours later he faced court and Magistrate Stephen Barlow released him back into the community.

Norman in 2006, when he was sentenced to life imprisonment by an Indonesian court. Picture: AP Photo

Renae Lawrence facing Newcastle Local Court in 2019, where she was convicted on five charges but spared jail for her role in the car theft. Picture: AAP Image/Darren Pateman

The youngest member of the Bali Nine will remain on bail until at least his next court date on February 25.

Police similarly did not forget about the car theft when Norman’s co-accused Renee Lawrence returned to Australia in 2018.

She was convicted of five charges in Newcastle Local Court but spared jail, instead receiving a 12-month community corrections order and copping a $1000 fine.

Norman, who was originally from Quakers Hill in Sydney’s north west, met Lawrence and fellow Bali Nine members Martin Stephens and Andrew Chan while working at a catering company in his local area.

Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the two alleged ringleaders of the plot to smuggle 8kg of heroin from Indonesia, were executed by firing squad in April 2015 as punishment for their crimes.

Norman and fellow Bali Nine member Si Yi Chen arrive in Melbourne on December 20. Picture: NewsWire

Another member of the group, Tan Nguyen, died from stomach cancer while behind bars in June 2018, while Lawrence returned home that year after being freed 14 years into her 20-year jail sentence.

The five remaining members of the Bali Nine who were all due to spend life behind bars — Norman, Scott Rush, Michael Czugaj, Si Yi Chen and Martin Stephens — were all freed late last year and sent back to Australia.

The long-awaited repatriation deal was praised by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who said he had personally thanked the Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.

Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan (left) and Myuran Sukumaran were both executed in 2015.

Scott Rush is released from Brisbane Watchhouse on December 30 after avoiding any further jail time for historical offences in Queensland. Picture: Richard Walker

“We would like to convey our deep appreciation to the government of Indonesia for its co-operation to facilitate the men’s return to Australia on humanitarian grounds,” Mr Albanese said in a joint statement with Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, at the time.

“This reflects the strong bilateral relationship and mutual respect between Indonesia and Australia.”

Soon after returning home Rush also discovered police had not forgotten about his old matters when Queensland authorities charged him for historical offences including fraud, entering premises and unlawful use of a motor vehicle, however despite being convicted he escaped any further jail time.