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The convicted smugglers have been given an update on their prison sentence
British drug smuggler and mum-of-three Lisa Stocker, alongside her accomplices, have been told they are to be deported from Bali in the coming days. The trio have narrowly avoided execution for their involvement in a £300,000 cocaine smuggling plot.
Stocker, a 39-year-old mother of three, her partner Jon Collyer, 39, and co-conspirator Phineas Float, 31, were terrified they might face execution under Indonesia’s stringent anti-drug laws when they were sentenced in August. They were caught attempting to smuggle 992 grams of cocaine hidden in 17 packets of Angel Delight dessert into the island.
However, a judge at Denpasar central court opted not to impose the death penalty after they confessed to smuggling the drugs onto the island. Instead, they were sentenced to a year in squalid prisons before likely being expelled from the country, the Daily Star reports.
Given time served, the trio are expected to return to the UK next month.
An source to the Mirror commented: “The three of them can consider themselves very lucky. Other people have spent years behind bars for similar crimes – some even told that they’d be executed.”
The court was informed that Float agreed to participate in the plot for a “reward” of 500,000 Indonesian Rupiah – which is a mere £22.50.
Despite Indonesia’s notoriously harsh anti-drug laws, Prosecutor Made Umbara had implored Judge Heriyanti not to issue the death penalty. This marks a significant display of leniency by the Indonesian authorities, whose hardline approach to drug trafficking has been criticised worldwide.
The mules, all hailing from East Sussex, pleaded guilty to a smuggling charge.
Stocker and Collyer were apprehended at Bali’s international airport on February 1 following a routine X-Ray of their luggage that revealed suspicious packages. The pair, who had journeyed from the UK to Bali via Qatar, informed police they were unaware the packages contained drugs, believing they were transporting British goodies to a friend.
Following their arrest, Stocker and Collyer became informants for the Indonesian police and agreed to set up their accomplice in a sting operation. Float was nabbed on February 3 when he arrived at the Grand Mas Airport Hotel car park to retrieve the drugs.
Their release and deportation occur just weeks after British drug smuggler Lindsay Sandiford, 69, was released after spending 13 years on death row. The legal secretary endured over a decade in Bali’s infamous Kerobokan prison after being busted with £1.6 million worth of cocaine in 2012.
However, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper managed to secure a bilateral agreement with the Indonesian authorities, leading to her release in October.
Sandiford was repatriated alongside fellow Brit Shahab Shahabadi, 35, who has been serving a life sentence since 2014 following his arrest during an investigation into an international drug trafficking ring.
Both Brits have endured serious health problems, according to officials. The Foreign Office has declined to confirm whether Sandiford will be detained or freed immediately upon her return home.
However, Indonesian officials maintained she would be imprisoned following her repatriation to Britain.
Her “detention will be moved to the United Kingdom” as part of the arrangement, an official revealed, indicating she still faces a period of incarceration.
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