Lindsay Sandiford

, where Sandiford was arrested after arriving from Bangkok. Lindsay Sandiford was born on 25 June 1956, and holds British citizenship. A former legal secretary, she worked for many years in management at the Cheltenham-based law firm DTS Legal. Sandiford was arrested on 19 May 2012 after arriving at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali, on a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok, Thailand, when of cocaine was found in the lining of her suitcase during a routine search. She claimed to have been forced into carrying the drugs by a gang who had threatened to harm members of her family if she did not comply with their demands. Rachel Dougall, who shared a property with Ponder, was arrested after a subsequent search of the residence uncovered of cocaine, while of hashish were found at the house of a fourth individual, Paul Beale. Sandiford and Ponder were charged with drug trafficking. ==Trial and conviction==

In her defence, Sandiford claimed that she had been pressured into carrying the drugs by a gang who had made threats against her children, while her lawyers argued she was suffering from mental health problems. Her son gave a statement to the court in which he said he believed she was forced to carry the drugs following a disagreement over rent money she had paid on his behalf. They later received one year and four-year prison sentences respectively. Julian Ponder was cleared of drug smuggling, but convicted of the possession of narcotics in January 2013, and sentenced to six years' imprisonment. ==Sentencing==

following her sentence. Despite the prosecution's recommendation of leniency, at her sentencing hearing on 22 January 2013 a panel of judges ruled there were no mitigating circumstances in Sandiford's favour and imposed a death sentence. Amser Simanjuntak, who headed the panel, said Sandiford's actions had damaged Bali's reputation as a tourist destination and undermined Indonesia's fight against drugs, while his colleague, Komang Wijaya Adi, said their decision had been influenced by several factors, including what was viewed as her lack of remorse. In Indonesia an execution is generally carried out by firing squad, often at night in an isolated location. Following the judgment Sandiford was led from the court in a distressed state, declining to speak to journalists before being escorted away by guards to be held at Bali's notorious Kerobokan Prison. Her lawyers announced she would appeal, a process that can take several years under Indonesian law. In response to the sentence, the British embassy in Indonesia said the United Kingdom "remains strongly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances" and that it was in touch with the UK government to discuss how best to provide Sandiford with legal representation. In a statement to the House of Commons, Hugo Swire, Minister of State for the Foreign Office, expressed his concern about the decision. "We are aware that Lindsay Sandiford is facing the death penalty in Indonesia. We strongly object to the death penalty and continue to provide consular assistance to Lindsay and her family during this difficult time." He also said that Foreign Secretary William Hague had raised the matter with his Indonesian counterpart. Martin Horwood, MP for Cheltenham, Sandiford's most recent UK residence, expressed his shock at the sentence. "The days of the death penalty ought to be past. This is not the way that a country that now values democracy and human rights should really be behaving." The sentence was also condemned by the anti–death penalty charity Reprieve, which has taken up her case. The organisation's Harriet McCulloch said, "She is clearly not a drug king pin - she has no money to pay for a lawyer, for the travel costs of defence witnesses or even for essentials like food and water. She has cooperated fully with the Indonesian authorities but has been sentenced to death while the gang operating in the UK, Thailand and Indonesia remain free to target other vulnerable people." At the time Sandiford was sentenced to death no executions had been carried out by Indonesia since 2008. On 4 February 2013 the country's attorney general, Basrief Arief, signalled his intention to resume executions by shortening the length of the appeals process, which he believed had delayed them. The country resumed executing condemned prisoners on 15 March, when a Malawian drug trafficker, Adami Wilson, was executed by firing squad in the early hours of the morning. ==Appeal==

Sandiford had seven days to lodge an appeal following the sentence. She was then given a further fourteen days to file a more detailed appeal. Her financial resources had been exhausted by legal costs during her trial, and consular staff identified an Indonesian lawyer who was willing to represent her on a pro bono basis at appeal, but who required expenses of £2,500 to travel to Bali. On 1 February Teesside's Evening Gazette reported that £3,500 had been collectively pledged by donors to accounts established on online donation sites Justgiving and Indiegogo to pay for her legal fees. On 4 February the Gazette reported that the money had been used to hire a lawyer, while a Reprieve official was working in Bali to help file the appeal. Sandiford's lawyer, Fadillah Agus, lodged an appeal with the Indonesian High Court on 11 February. He argued that Sandiford's sentence did not take into account her cooperation with police. In February 2013 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office submitted an amicus curiae to Denpasar District Court alleging that police had used sleep deprivation on Sandiford and threatened her with a firearm following her arrest, and consequently "violated Lindsay Sandiford's fundamental rights under international laws and the Indonesian constitution". The British consulate in Bali also submitted a statement to the court expressing the country's objection to the death penalty. Bali's High Court announced on 8 April 2013 that Sandiford's appeal had been denied and her conviction and death sentence upheld. Agus announced on 19 April that an appeal would be lodged within the next few days. On 23 April notice was given by Sandiford's lawyer to the Supreme Court that she would challenge the sentence. On 7 May 2013, Sandiford appealed against her sentence to the Indonesian Supreme Court. On 30 August, the Supreme Court rejected her appeal. Sandiford was able to lodge a judicial review if new evidence was presented or if there was negligence in the case. No date had been set for her execution as of August 2017. In April 2023 she was still in Kerobokan Prison in Bali. UK government legal challenge On the day Sandiford lodged her preliminary appeal the London-based law firm Leigh Day, which is working with Reprieve on her behalf, said it would seek a judicial review of the UK government's position that it does not provide funds for the legal representation of British nationals facing criminal proceedings overseas. Reprieve believed that by not providing Sandiford, a British citizen, with financial help to cover her legal costs the government had breached its obligations towards her. The judges ruled that Sandiford had "no reasonable prospect of success", remarks that attracted criticism from anti–death penalty campaigners. The judges published their reasons for rejecting the appeal on 22 May. In the written judgement, Lord Dyson said that Sandiford had argued the Foreign Secretary's position was "unlawful" but that the High Court had been "right to conclude" it was not. "As the Secretary of State concedes, it would be possible to produce a policy under which funds for legal representation were made available to British nationals in certain defined circumstances...But the question is not whether the Secretary of State could produce a different policy which many would regard as fairer and more reasonable and humane than the present policy. It is whether the policy that he has produced is irrational. I am in no doubt that the policy is not irrational. It is based on reasoning which is coherent and which is neither arbitrary nor perverse." In a written interview with BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Victoria Derbyshire shortly after the UK appeal was rejected, Sandiford said that the Foreign Office's stance was "tantamount to condoning the death penalty" and claimed she was receiving little support from them. "The government and FCO are doing all they can to resist me at this difficult time." ==Release==

On 21 October 2025, it was announced that the Indonesian and UK governments had reached an agreement, and that Sandiford would be released and allowed to return to the UK. She was repatriated to the UK on 7 November along with Shahab Shahabadi, who had been serving a life sentence for drug smuggling following his conviction in 2014. Both were reported to be experiencing health problems. Matthew Downing, the UK's Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia, said they would be given necessary treatment while being "governed by the law and procedures of the UK". ==Notes==