Bali 9 member Renae Lawrence flees media pack after returning home from 13 years in jail
Bali Nine drug mule Renae Lawrence is back in Newcastle, and still running the media gauntlet after being freed following a 13-year jail stint.
Convicted Bali Nine drug smuggler Renae Lawrence’s Newcastle hometown was today in a flurry after she touched down on home soil.
She landed to an unusually crowded airport at 11.15am. She was last to step off the plane, disembarking after even the pilots — and into a media frenzy.
The newly-freed drug mule appeared distressed and uneasy with the attention, breaking into a run through the arrivals area, and into a white Ford Ranger.
The 41-year-old was not met by police, although she is still faces two outstanding warrants in Australia for car theft and a high car speed chase — for an incident which happened in 2005 before she was caught in Bali.
Lawrence waited in the Ford Ranger, her head covered up by a blue towel, before the vehicle sped off.
It was expected Lawrence would head to the family home at Wallsend, but the only thing to turn up there initially was a car with suitcases, leaving the rest of Australia scratching their heads as to her whereabouts.
Local council rangers drove past Lawrence’s family home throughout the day and so too did locals — some hurling insults at the media assembled there.
Barbara Richardson, a Newcastle local who was at the airport picking up her grandson on the same flight as Lawrence, said there wasn’t much chat locally about Larence.
“There hasn’t been much talk in the community … but she’s done her term and I think she should be left alone,” she said.
“I hope that she can settle in and return to her work without all this s**t around her.”
Lawrence was jaield for 20 years in April 2006 for attempting to smuggle 2.7kg of heroin out of Denpasar airport. She served more than 13 years after her sentence was reduced for good behaviour.
The only female member of the Bali Nine, she received the shortest sentence.
Five of the Bali Nine reman in Indonesian jails. Two more — Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran — were executed by firing squad in 2015, while Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died of stomach cancer earlier this year.
Lawrence was released and deported from Bali late yesterday, and landed in Brisbane just after 5am today.
After the family waited to board the flight to Newcastle, her stepbrother pleaded for her to be left alone.
“We don’t want to say anything yet,” he said.
Plea for privacy
Earlier, as Lawrence and family members landed on home soil in Brisbane, Lawrence’s stepbrother for privacy for the family.
At Brisbane Airport, as the family waited to board the flight to Newcastle, Mr Waterman said she just wanted to be left alone for the time being.
“We don’t want to say anything yet,” he said.
Lawrence appeared much calmer and happier after a chaotic scene upon her arrival at Brisbane International just after 5am.
The former panel beater received no special treatment, and her family was left to shepherd her through the waiting media scrum.
Her only words were spoken in Indonesian as a gaggle of television cameras followed her through arrivals to a domestic airport transfer bus.
An hour later, seated at the gate in the Virgin Australia terminal, Lawrence smiled and said thank you several times but declined to answer questions about her imprisonment or return home.
RT JoelDry7: No special treatment. Just like everyone else Renae Lawrence is waiting in line to check-in for her flight to Newcastle. sunriseon7 pic.twitter.com/p5HWKgByi2
— Im All News (@ImAllNews) November 21, 2018
Bali Nine Drug Mule Renae Lawrence is back on Australian soil after more than 13 years behind bars. @Bianca_Stone @JoelDry7 #7News pic.twitter.com/jwnZMXej3N
— 7 News Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) November 21, 2018
Lawrence was handed a 20-year prison sentence in April 2006 for attempting to smuggle 2.7kg of heroin out of Denpasar airport after her original life sentence was reduced. Her sentence was reduced again by seven years for good behaviour.
She is the first and only member of the Bali Nine to be released from the Bali prison. As part of the condition to be released on good behaviour, Lawrence will not be allowed to enter Indonesia again.
The group’s arrest in Denpasar was the subject of much controversy when it was revealed Australian Federal Police tipped off their Indonesian counterparts.
Long wait for freedom
In Bali yesterday, Lawrence wanted to go quietly but in the end she left Bangli jail at just after 5pm (8pm AEST) to an inevitable media circus.
Wearing sunglasses and a maroon shirt, the 41-year-old was ushered into a black Toyota Fortuna by heavily armed police and driven in a police convoy to Bali airport, the scene of her April 2005 arrest after Customs officials discovered 2.7kg of heroin strapped to her body. She kept her head down and said nothing as she struggled through the media pack.
She was reunited with her mother stepbrother Allan and another friend in an immigration holding room at Ngurah Rai airport.
The four sat chatting quietly on sofas and sipping water before separately boarding a 9.10pm Virgin Australia flight to Brisbane.
A tense and emotional-looking Renae Lawrence meeting Bali's justice ministry chief just before her release https://t.co/vJtFsN4nCG @hodgeamanda pic.twitter.com/vStzBK53IH
— The Australian (@australian) November 21, 2018
Her deportation followed a chaotic day in which her release was delayed from morning to evening, apparently to accommodate officials seeking a share of the media attention. Promises that Lawrence would also front a press conference were later rescinded.
Instead, Bali justice office chief Maryoto Sumadi addressed dozens of waiting media just minutes before Lawrence’s release to repeat what was already widely known — that Bali immigration officials had issued a letter of deportation instructing Lawrence to “immediately leave Indonesia” and never return.
“Renae Lawrence is banned from entering Indonesia for life because her offence involved narcotics,” Mr Sumadi said before holding up her release documents.
Minutes before he addressed the waiting media, Mr Sumadi meeting a tense and emotional-looking Renae Lawrence inside the prison.
“How do you feel?” he asked in a video obtained by The Australian.
“A bit scared … good,” replied Lawrence.
“Just relax. Everything’s arranged, your transport to the airport. You are going home aren’t you?”
Videos showed Lawrence embracing fellow prisoners and shaking the hand of Bangli prison governor Made Suwendra, who later told The Australian that Lawrence and her closest inmate friends wept as they said their goodbyes.
“I told her to take care of herself and that I wished her well. I said I hope you can stay productive and contribute to your society.”
Lawrence has expressed fears she will not be accepted back into Australian society.
She leaves behind her fellow Bali Nine drug traffickers Matthew Norman, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj and Scott Rush, all serving life sentences. Ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukamaran were executed in 2015. Another member of the Bali Nine, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, died of cancer earlier this year. Lawrence was sentenced to 20 years for her role in a plot to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin into Australia but was the only one to receive a fixed sentence, making her eligible remissions.
On Tuesday prison governor Made Suwendra appealed to Australia to give her a second chance, saying she was “fully rehabilitated”.
Additional reporting: Anton Muhajir/AAP
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