Lindsay Sandiford: Bali court upholds death sentence for smuggling cocaine

Briton convicted of drug smuggling has 14 days to take case to Indonesian supreme court after having appeal rejected
Lindsay Sandiford
Lindsay Sandiford, who was sentenced to death in January after police said they found 4kg cocaine in her suitcase lining. Photograph: Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP/Getty Images

A British woman convicted of smuggling £1.6m of cocaine into Bali will be executed, an Indonesian court has said, despite appeals for her life to be saved. A Bali high court spokesman announced on Monday that it had rejected an appeal from Lindsay June Sandiford, 56.

She was arrested for drug trafficking in May last year after local police said they found almost 4kg of cocaine in the lining of her suitcase. In January she was sentenced by a district court to face a firing squad .

The court spokesman said the latest verdict was decided last week. Sandiford has 14 days to appeal to the national supreme court. If the appeal fails, she could ask the president for clemency. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has commuted sentences for four drug offenders on death row since he took office in 2004.

Three other Britons were involved in the plot to smuggle drugs into Bali. Julian Ponder, 43, was jailed for six years in January and fined the equivalent of £65,000 after being convicted of cocaine possession. His lawyers said he was told Sandiford was delivering a present for his child's birthday and, when he met her to receive the gift, police officers arrested him.

Ponder's partner, Rachel Dougall, 38, from Brighton, received a one-year jail sentence last month. She had been in jail for eight months awaiting trial and could be reunited with her daughter this month. Paul Beales, a property developer and long-time Bali resident, was also spared a harsh sentence: judges gave him four years for possession of a small amount of hashish.

The UK government said it was disappointed that Sandiford had lost her appeal. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office reiterated the UK's opposition to the death penalty.

"We are disappointed to hear that Lindsay Sandiford's appeal has been refused by the high court in Bali," said the spokesperson. "The UK strongly opposes the death penalty and has repeatedly made representations to the Indonesian government on this matter. We will continue to provide consular assistance at this difficult time."

Today's best video

Today in pictures