Last updated: March 14, 2014

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World News Update, what you need to know

WORLD News Update, what you need to know

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World Breaking News

Indonesia sentences UK drug gran to death

Lindsay June Sandiford

An Indonesian court has sentenced British woman Lindsay June Sandiford to death for drug smuggling. Source: AAP

AN Indonesian court has sentenced a British grandmother to death for taking cocaine worth $US2.5 million ($A2.4 million) to Bali in her suitcase.

Prosecutors had sought only a 15-year sentence.

Lindsay June Sandiford, 56, wept when judges handed down the sentence. She covered her face with a floral scarf and declined to speak to reporters on her way back to prison.


Indonesia, like many Asian countries, is very strict on drug crimes, and most of the more than 40 foreigners on its death row have been convicted of drug charges.

Sandiford's lawyer said she would appeal. Appeals take several years. Condemned criminals face a firing squad in Indonesia, which has not carried out an execution since 2008, when 10 people were put to death.

A verdict is expected on Wednesday in the trial of Sandiford's alleged accomplice, British man Julian Anthony Pounder.

He is accused of receiving the drugs in Bali. Two other British citizens and an Indian have been jailed in connection with the case.

The British Embassy said in a statement it was in contact with London to discuss the next step in providing legal assistance to Sandiford. It said the United Kingdom "remains strongly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances".



Prosecutors had been seeking a 15-year prison sentence for Sandiford, who was arrested in May when customs officers at Bali's airport discovered 3.8 kilograms of cocaine in the lining of her luggage.



