Mum breaks down in tears with apology over AU$616k Bali drug smuggling plot as she faces death penalty
A British mum who travelled to Bali is facing the death penalty for allegedly smuggling AU$616,000 of cocaine into the holiday hotspot.
A British mum who travelled to Bali is facing the death penalty for allegedly smuggling $616,000 of cocaine into Bali has said she “won’t trust people so easily again”.
Lisa Stocker, 39, broke down in tears as she told a court she was conned into carrying illicit packets of the popular Angel Delight dessert into Indonesia by a friend.
Ms Stocker says she had no idea that she was actually transporting 992mg of cocaine inside the 17 packets.
The mum-of-three and her partner, Jon Collyer, 39, both from East Sussex, were arrested at Bali’s international airport on February 1.
They had travelled from the UK through Qatar and were stopped in Bali after a routine X-ray at the airport alerted officials to the suspicious packages.
The couple first appeared in court with another man — 31-year-old Phineas Float, also of East Sussex — who is accused of receiving the packages in an airport hotel on February 3.
During one of her initial court hearings Ms Stocker admitted: “I was framed.”
She claimed a friend gave her the packets of Angel Delight in the UK and asked her to take them to Bali.
Ms Stocker said: “Jon and I had been to Bali twice carrying packages from [him]. I was shocked after finding out it was cocaine.”
On Tuesday in court she reiterated her feelings as she again said she had no idea that her suitcase was full of narcotics.
She was seen breaking down in tears as she sat in the courtroom in a red and white prison outfit and issued a grovelling apology.
Her husband, 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 heated shouting match during a previous hearing.
Back in June, while walking to the courtroom for the first day of his trial he yelled at a journalist to “f*** off”.
Sentencing for all three is due to take place next week, where they could face the death penalty under Indonesian laws.
Although they are more likely to be hit with decades in prison, according to their lawyer Sheiny Pangkahila.
She suggested, if convicted, her clients could each face prison 15 to 20 years.
But now lead prosecutor Made Dipa Umbara has said the trio could actually avoid any serious time altogether.
He announced thy will ask to “sentence the defendants to one years in prison” each, minus the time already served.
He noted that all three had behaved well in court, apologised for their role in the smuggling plot and promised not to reoffend.
Meanwhile, across the globe in Georgia, Bella May Culley is battling to avoid a 20-year jail sentence while pregnant.
The 19-year-old from Billingham, County Durham, England denies knowingly smuggling cannabis and hashish from Thailand.
She says she was coerced by a brutal trafficking gang who allegedly burned her with an iron and threatened her family with beheading.
Bella claims she was duped into transporting the drugs by the Thailand-based gang – but prosecutors argue CCTV footage shows her calmly passing through Bangkok airport’s gates without raising the alarm.
In Sri Lanka, Charlotte May Lee is behind bars after allegedly attempting to smuggle AU$2.4 million worth of synthetic kush, a highly potent cannabis variant.
The 21-year-old former air stewardess from South London, denies the allegations but was reportedly caught with 46kg of the substance packed into her suitcases.
If convicted, she could be handed a 25-year prison sentence in a country known for its tough anti-drug stance.
This article originally appeared on The Sun and has been republished with permission
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