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Cocaine trafficker Lindsay Sandiford, 67, is off-loading her gear to other inmates inside Bali’s hell-hole Kerobokan jail after spending more than a decade on death row
Drugs mule gran Lindsay Sandiford is so convinced she will walk free after more than a decade on death row in Indonesia she is giving away her clothes to other inmates, sources claim.
The British cocaine trafficker, 67, believes she could dodge the firing squad thanks to a change in the law. She has been held in Bali’s hell-hole Kerobokan jail since 2013 for trying to smuggle £1.6million of cocaine into the country in her suitcase.
But new legislation means her death sentence could be converted into a life prison term as she has managed more than 10 years’ good behaviour behind bars.
Five members of the notorious Bali Nine were freed in December despite being convicted of trying to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin out of Indonesia in April 2005. And Filipino maid Mary Jane Veloso, 40, also tasted freedom for the first time in 15 years after she was found carrying 2.6kg (5.7lb) of heroin at Indonesia’s Yogyakarta airport.
Now prison insiders say Sandiford is praying for similar treatment and believes she will be spared a trip to Nusa Kambangan, known as “Execution Island”. Lawyers could then argue she should be returned to the UK, where she is likely to go free on the basis of time served in Indonesia.
Pals say Sandiford is so sure of her freedom she’s started off-loading her clothes to other inmates. An insider told the Mirror: “Lindsay has slumped into depression because she’s not been released yet.
“She’s given away all her clothes and things she had because she was expecting to be released already. But it’s understood she will be released in a few months, along with other westerners.
“The new Indonesian president has, among his many changes, said he wants ro reduce the numbers in jail. Local people are being released, then overseas people are to be looked at. Already the Australian drug group known as the Bali Nine are back in Australia.
“The jails are so full. Rooms that normally hold 12 are now holding 16. So a new program is needed.”
It is understood British representatives have repeatedly met Sandiford in jail to discuss her release. Mary Jane Veloso’s story has echoes of Sandiford’s case, who was given the death penalty in 2013 for trafficking £1.6m cocaine into Bali.
Sandiford claimed she had been forced to carry the haul after gangsters threatened her family. She co-operated to prosecute others responsible.
Last year The Mirror gained access to rat-infested Kerobokan jail where cellmates revealed she is the “Grandmother” of the prison who enjoys special privileges – including medium-rare steak dinners.
But other prison pals said she was “foul-mouthed, antagonistic” and drove cell mates out of her room. Officials said she has a number of visits each year from family members, but has yet to be given a date for her execution.
Her prison pal, an Indonesian woman jailed for corruption charges who has spent two years with Sandiford, said: “She is the grandmother of the prison, the Queen. She is the only one who can order steak from the prison cafe, she has it medium rare, normally once a week.
“She is very happy here, very happy. Everyone loves her, she teaches people how to knit, she hosts regular classes, and she shows them how to look after themselves.
“No date has been set for the execution. She is scared of dying but she has accepted it. She is moved around the prison. Sometimes she has cellmates, sometimes she doesn’t.”
However another inmate, who spent six months in a cell with Sandiford before being freed, said: “Lindsay does not talk to people, she does not make friends with people, she has a foul mouth, she’s aggressively protective of herself.
“That’s the way she has learned to cope. She’s got no friends there. She doesn’t mix with other inmates, she spends 99% of her time in her room. They have activities, like nail painting or hair styling, but Lindsay does none of them.
“There was a Ukrainian girl who was put in her cell, but the girl requested to move. She couldn’t tolerate Lindsay’s antagonistic nature. She’s very anti-social and it’s a mechanism for survival. The way I read her is that she’s trying to survive. She started getting privileges, so all the girls slept on the floor but she got a mattress.
“And then she got cooking utensils because she didn’t like the prison food. Lindsay has a sweet tooth, she likes 70% dark chocolate. She would be brought chocolate and fresh vegetables from supporters.
“I think the prison recognised that she’s not a young woman, and she came from the West. But being in Kerobokan is very difficult. If you go in as a smart person, you come out half as smart. There’s nothing to fire the neutrons while you’re in jail.”
A new Indonesian law means that a reform of death penalty legislation may give her hope of returning to the UK. It’s claimed the British consulate has stepped up visits as they support her bid for release.
In December human rights barrister Felicity Gerry KC urged the release of Sandiford. Dr Gerry, who visited her in 2015, has called on the UK government to help bring her home.
She said: “There is an apparent move by the Indonesian authorities, in 2025, to commute death penalties into prison sentences. In the lead-up I think they are negotiating with more than one country about the return of people. Lindsay was compelled to commit crime and helped identify those responsible.
“It seems to me she’s the next person to be allowed to go home. The real question is what is the Foreign Office doing?”
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting a British woman detained in Bali and are in contact with the Indonesian authorities.”
