A 69-year-old British grandmother who has spent 13 years on death row in Bali for drug smuggling is set to fly home to the UK today, after being spared the firing squad. Lindsay Sandiford, a former legal secretary, was convicted in 2013 of smuggling £1.6 million of cocaine into Indonesia and sentenced to death. She will board a flight from Denpasar airport this afternoon, accompanied by fellow UK national Shahab Shahabadi, who is serving a life sentence for drug offences.
Sandiford has been held in Bali's notorious Kerobokan prison, where unsanitary conditions, overcrowding and humidity have taken a severe toll on her health. A source close to her described her as 'extremely unwell' and 'desperate to get home'. The pair will be handed over to UK Ambassador Dominic Jermey at the airport and paraded before the media before departing on a 20-hour journey to London Heathrow.
The release follows a bilateral agreement between the UK and Indonesian governments, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper making personal pleas for her return. Foreign Office officials had been working on the deal for over 18 months. Pastor Christine Buckingham, who visited Sandiford last week, said she is 'in extremely ill health' and eager to enjoy 'creature comforts' with her family.
Sandiford was arrested in May 2012 after arriving in Bali from Bangkok with cocaine in her luggage. She initially claimed a UK-based drug syndicate forced her to smuggle the drugs, but later changed her story, admitting she had been asked by a British antiques dealer. Despite cooperating with a police sting operation, her appeals were dismissed and she received the death penalty, although the prosecution had requested a 15-year sentence. Her legal team cited mental health problems and coercion.
Indonesia has not carried out any executions since 2016, and Sandiford had been hoping for freedom after the country relaxed its drug trafficking laws. Inside Kerobokan prison, she earned the nickname 'Grandmother' from fellow inmates. Her return marks the end of a harrowing chapter, with her family eagerly awaiting her arrival.
