Former Redcar woman Lindsay Sandiford to appeal against drug smuggling death sentence

7:40pm Sunday 10th February 2013 in News Photograph of the Author By Julia Breen

A GRANDMOTHER who is facing the firing squad in Indonesia after being convicted of drug smuggling is expected to launch an appeal tomorrow.

Lindsay Sandiford, who is originally from Redcar, has until Tuesday to launch an appeal against her death sentence imposed after she was caught smuggling almost 5kg of cocaine – worth £1.6m – into the paradise island of Bali.

Human rights lawyer Fadillah Agus, who agreed to take on Sandiford’s case for £2,600 after meeting her six days ago, said he is confident the appeal court will throw out his client’s sentence.

He was quoted as saying: “I believe she has a very good chance of avoiding the death penalty. The sentence wasn’t appropriate and Mrs Sandiford should have been given a lighter one.”

Mr Agus, who is based in Jakarta, Indonesia, took on the case after his £2,600 fee was raised by public donations.

The charity Reprieve announced that an unnamed person had made a £2,500 online donation. The UK Government had refused to fund the cost of her appeal.

Sandiford is originally from Redcar but married and moved to London, later moving to Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

She was accused by the court of damaging the image of Bali and received the sentence despite prosecutors only asking for 15 years imprisonment.

She argued she had been forced to smuggle the drugs after threats were made against her family.

It is believed that her appeal could centre on her claim she was promised a lighter sentence for taking part in a police sting operation targeting other smugglers.

If her appeal fails she could ask for presidential clemency.

Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has urged the Foreign Office to rethink its policy on support for Britons sentenced to death abroad following its refusal to help fund Sandiford’s case.

She is one of 12 British nationals currently facing the death penalty overseas, according to the Foreign Office.

More Redcar News

More Crime News

Comments (4)

9:04pm Sun 10 Feb 13

vilelm says...

just because she is british why should she be a special case she is scum in her eyes the only thing she did wrong was get caught, she should rot in prison and the newspapers should be banned on publishing her storie if eventually she is released its like because she is british she is a special case and get away with murde,,,,,r she could quite easily made money doing benifit fraud ripping tax payers off and still get away with it
just because she is british why should she be a special case she is scum in her eyes the only thing she did wrong was get caught, she should rot in prison and the newspapers should be banned on publishing her storie if eventually she is released its like because she is british she is a special case and get away with murde,,,,,r she could quite easily made money doing benifit fraud ripping tax payers off and still get away with it vilelm

9:15pm Sun 10 Feb 13

annbalou says...

She got caught this time, how many times did she get away with it, as the old saying goes "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime", yes facing a firing squad seems harsh but she knew the consequences when she chose to smuggle drugs and I'm sorry but I don't believe her story about being forced in to it.
She got caught this time, how many times did she get away with it, as the old saying goes "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime", yes facing a firing squad seems harsh but she knew the consequences when she chose to smuggle drugs and I'm sorry but I don't believe her story about being forced in to it. annbalou

11:25am Mon 11 Feb 13

CandyCrush says...

Every story i read about this woman bangs on about the fact that she is a Grandmother. Is this supposed to make us feel more sympathetic toward her??? It just means that she was once a young scumbag, and now shes an old scumbag. As for being 'forced into it under threat' , what sort of people does she hang out with at the local bingo? I've travelled all over the world and have never once been approached and asked nicely to be a drugs mule, let alone threatened into it!
Every story i read about this woman bangs on about the fact that she is a Grandmother. Is this supposed to make us feel more sympathetic toward her??? It just means that she was once a young scumbag, and now shes an old scumbag. As for being 'forced into it under threat' , what sort of people does she hang out with at the local bingo? I've travelled all over the world and have never once been approached and asked nicely to be a drugs mule, let alone threatened into it! CandyCrush

6:37pm Mon 11 Feb 13

greenfinger says...

being a Grandmother she should have known better. nana knows best ha! now she'll have to bite the bullet.
being a Grandmother she should have known better. nana knows best ha! now she'll have to bite the bullet. greenfinger

Comments are closed on this article.

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree