Death Row Grandmother to Fly Home to UK After Avoiding Execution
Lindsay Sandiford is scheduled to board a flight home to the UK from Bali today after spending 13 years on death row for smuggling cocaine.
The 69-year-old grandmother, who was sentenced to death in 2013, has been spared the firing squad and given a UK-funded plane ticket costing £600. She will have a short layover before arriving at London Heathrow after a 20-hour journey.
Background and Current Status
Sandiford, a former legal secretary, was convicted for smuggling £1.6 million worth of cocaine into Indonesia. A source revealed:
"Lindsay is extremely unwell. She is desperate to get home and to be with her family. More than a decade in one of the world's worst prisons has taken its toll on her and she wants nothing more than to get back to the UK."
Return Process
- Sandiford is expected to leave her cell in Kerobokan prison this afternoon.
- She will be accompanied by Shahab Shahabadi, another UK national serving a life sentence for drug offenses since June 2014.
- They will travel by car for 45 minutes to Denpasar International Airport.
- At the airport, they will be handed over to the UK Ambassador, Dominic Jermey.
- The pair will be presented to the media one last time before boarding their flight, escorted by British officials.
Summary
This marks the end of a traumatic period in Lindsay Sandiford’s life as she returns home after over a decade on death row.
Author's summary: Lindsay Sandiford, a 69-year-old UK national, is finally returning home after 13 years on death row in Bali for cocaine smuggling, reflecting the heavy toll of her imprisonment abroad.