Death sentence for cocaine smuggling Briton upheld

The Foreign Office also reiterated the UK’s opposition to the death penalty and said it had repeatedly made representations to the Indonesian government about this case.

It was announced yesterday that a court in Bali had upheld the death sentence against Sandiford, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, after she was convicted of smuggling £1.6m worth of cocaine.

After being sentenced to death by firing squad in January, the 56-year-old grandmother lodged an appeal against the decision but that has now been rejected.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are disappointed to hear that Lindsay Sandiford’s appeal has been refused by the High Court in Bail.

“The UK strongly opposes the death penalty and has repeatedly made representations to the Indonesian government on this matter.”

The court spokesman in Bali said the verdict was decided last week and Sandiford has 14 days to appeal to the national Supreme Court.

Sandiford, originally from Redcar, Teesside, was arrested in May when 8.4lb (3.8kg) of cocaine were discovered in her luggage at Bali’s airport.

She previously told the court that she only became involved 
in the smuggling because “the lives of my children were in danger”.

Four other defendants, three Britons and an Indian national, were sentenced to jail terms ranging from one to six years.

When the death sentence was first delivered, the judges said Sandiford had damaged the image of Bali as a tourist destination and weakened the government’s anti-drugs programme.

As it was read out, there were gasps of surprise in court as not even the prosecution had been seeking the death penalty.

Human rights organisation Reprieve has previously said it believes there is evidence to show that Sandiford was threatened and coerced into acting as a courier.

Five foreigners have been executed since 1998, all for drug crimes. There have been no executions in the country since 2008, when 10 people were put to death.