Bali prosecutors decide NOT to call for three Brit 'drug smugglers' to be executed as they lay sentencing demands
The three Britons held in Bali over an alleged cocaine smuggling plot will not face the death penalty, a major reprieve in a country with some of the world's toughest drug laws.
Indonesian prosecutors said they were seeking 12 months in prison for the three British nationals, all from Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex, accused of drug offences on the resort island.
Jonathan Christopher Collyer, 38, and Lisa Ellen Stocker, 39, were arrested on February 1 after being stopped at Bali's international airport with 17 packages of cocaine that weighed nearly a kilogram, according to public court records.
They appeared in court alongside Phineas Ambrose Float, 31, who was allegedly due to receive the packages and was arrested a few days later in February.
'(Demanding the court) to sentence the defendants to one year in prison and to keep them in detention,' prosecutor Made Dipa Umbara told the district court in Bali's capital Denpasar.
Umbara said that while the defendants were accused of breaking the law, they behaved well in court, acknowledged their wrongdoings, and pledged not to repeat their mistakes.
The sentence call came as a surprise as convicted drug traffickers, especially those caught with large quantities, have in the past been executed by firing squad in Indonesia - including foreign nationals.
If the quantity is large but not enough for the death penalty, life in prison is a common sentence. The country has upheld a moratorium on the death sentence since 2017.
Jonathan Christopher Collyer, 38, and Lisa Ellen Stocker, 39, were arrested on February 1 after being stopped at Bali's international airport with 17 packages of cocaine that weighed nearly a kilogram
The British Foreign Office said it was in touch with local authorities about the case.
'We are providing consular support to three British Nationals detained in Indonesia,' a spokesperson said.
It is understood Balinese customs officers halted the Collyer and Stocker at the airport X-ray machine after finding 'suspicious' items in their suitcases.
They were pulled to a separate area, where staff found the narcotics sealed in blue plastic 'Angel Delight' sachets in Collyer's luggage.
More cocaine was found in seven plastic bags in his partner's suitcase.
It is alleged that the pair were caught with 17 packages of cocaine in total, with a value of £296,000.
There were fears the couple and Mr Float would all face the death penalty, but concerns were somewhat assuaged when another British man arrested for allegedly taking a package of drugs from a taxi driver avoided the death penalty last month.
Thomas Parker, from Cumbria, was arrested near Kuta beach in January after allegedly collecting a package from a taxi driver at a nearby street.
The package contained slightly over a kilogram of MDMA, a party drug and the main ingredient in ecstasy, according to a lab test result cited in court documents.
Parker, a 32-year-old electrician by trade, was initially charged with drug trafficking, but the Denpasar District Court reportedly handed him just 10 months for drug possession.
Parker repeatedly expressed his remorse in his final plea and asked the panel of three judges to consider his situation and impose a lenient sentence.
'I am very sorry and apologise, I know it was a mistake,' Parker said, 'I promise not to repeat it again, because I really didn't know that (the package) was drugs.'
The good behaviour of all three defendants likely helped to alleviate their sentences.
Though Indonesia's drug laws remain very strict, President Prabowo Subianto's administration has moved in recent months to repatriate several high-profile foreign inmates, all sentenced for drug offences, back to their home countries.
Frenchman Serge Atlaoui returned to France in February after Jakarta and Paris agreed on a deal to repatriate him on 'humanitarian grounds' because he was ill.
In December, Indonesia took Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino woman arrested in 2010 on drug trafficking charges, off death row and returned her to the Philippines some 14 years after she was first detained.
It also sent the five remaining members of the 'Bali Nine' drug ring, who were serving heavy prison sentences, back to Australia.
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Read the heartbreaking note from the wife of 'best dad in the world' gunned down in Bali - as mum-of-six breaks her silence after he was shot dead in a suspected gangland hit
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Five months later, she was a key witness to her brother-in-law's execution in Bali. Daniella told Bali Police how she woke up as the gunmen burst into Ghanim's bedroom and she heard an 'explosion'. Daniella Gourdeas has links to slain gangster Sam 'The Punisher' Abdulrahim (pictured) She said she then heard more gunshots and a window being smashed as the hit squad ran from room to room in the villa before she fled for her life. 'The witness [Daniella] ran out of the villa where she saw two motorcycles [or scooters] parked outside while she heard more gunshots,' added the police officer. '[She ran to] the main road where she asked for help.' By the time bystanders had calmed Daniella down and taken her back to the villa, police were already on the scene. Her sister Jazmyn had also been asleep at the villa when she awoke to the sound of her husband screaming around 12.15am. The mother-of-six cowered behind bedsheets as a man in an orange jacket and an accomplice opened fire on her husband in the bathroom, she told police. Shortly afterwards, she heard further gunshots and then heard Ghanim screaming from a separate room after he was gunned down in his bedroom. With her husband already dead, Ms Gourdeas tried to stem Ghanim's bleeding until emergency services arrived. After the shooting, the suspects allegedly travelled across Indonesia in a bid to flee the country Ghanim was discharged from hospital in a wheelchair last week, nursing a bandaged leg. Bali authorities say they have all three survivors under close watch. Ghanim is the former partner of Danielle Stephens, the stepdaughter of notorious Australian drug trafficker Carl Williams, who was murdered in Victoria's Barwon jail in 2010. But Ghanim's long-standing association with Melbourne's criminal underworld goes deeper than just family ties. In 2014, he was jailed following the shooting of fellow associate Serkan Kala after a dispute at a gym escalated. He and a co-accused pleaded guilty. On Wednesday, Bali detectives arrested three Australian men Midolmore Pasa Tupou, 37, Darcy Jenson, 27, and Mevlut Coskun, 23, after an intense five-day police manhunt. Jenson was arrested at Jakarta Airport as he tried to get through an e-passport reader to board a flight to Singapore and then on to Cambodia. Tupou and Coskun managed to make it to Cambodia but were identified by Interpol who arrested them in Phnom Penh and flew them back to Indonesia. Detectives said a sledgehammer, believed to have been supplied by Coskun, was used to smash down the door of the villa moments before the alleged attack. Badung Police Chief Arif Batubara said the discarded hammer was discovered by officers at the entrance of the villa and quickly became a key piece of evidence. 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BBC News
12 hours ago
- BBC News
Crime boss James Harding guilty of murder plot and importing cocaine
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Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Welcome back...good to see you! Moment counter terror cops arrested drug kingpin as he arrives back in Britain after he plotted gangland murder from his Dubai villa
This is the moment British drug lord was hauled back to the UK after plotting to murder a gang rival while running a £100million cocaine empire from Dubai. James Harding, 34, was arrested by counter terrorist specialist firearms officers at a London airport in May 2022 after being extradited from Switzerland on a private jet. In the video, an officer says 'Mr Harding, welcome back,' to which the criminal replies: 'Oh, thanks very much.' The kingpin was then handed a bulletproof vest and bundled into an armoured police van. Harding and his 'loyal right-hand man' Jayes Kharouti, 39, ran a vast criminal empire that made £5million in profits from importing drugs over 10 weeks in 2020 alone. They tried to recruit a hitman to put an unnamed rival courier 'permanently out of business', arming him with a gun and ammunition for the 'full M', meaning murder. At the time, Harding, who claimed to be a high-end watch sales executive, was living in luxury at the The Nest apartment complex in Al Barari, Dubai, staying in five-star hotels and driving Bugatti and Lamborghini sports cars. The plot was scuppered by Scotland Yard officers who accessed the defendants' discussions on EncroChat - where the kingpin had sent selfies on the same phone he used to arrange the hit. They were handed the data after French police smashed the encryption code to the service favoured by the criminal underworld. Harding and Kharouti's Old Bailey trial was held amid heightened security, with an armed police escort to and from the central London court and prison. They were today found guilty of conspiracy to murder while Harding was also convicted of conspiring to import cocaine, which Kharouti, of Epsom, Surrey, had already admitted. Three other members of the organised crime group had previously admitted drugs offences. Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC told the trial the defendants discussed on EncroChat importing a tonne of cocaine over a period of 10 weeks. Harding used the nickname 'thetopsking', while Kharouti went by the handle 'besttops' and 'topsybricks'. In EncroChat messages the pair discussed the robbery of a drugs courier and Kharouti reported back on whether six or seven kilograms of cocaine had been delivered to a client the day before. Mr Atkinson said it was Harding who first raised the idea of a 'cryp robbery' - taking drugs from a courier - which became a plan to kill a courier instead. The defendants discussed how and where the murder would take place, with Kharouti offering the potential hitman £100,000, the court was told. Kharouti kept his boss informed about the plan who told him it should involve a 'double tap' shot to the head and chest. Despite a delay over transport for the hitman, the defendants worked on alternative solutions even arranging the shooting near to the proposed gunman's home. Harding sent selfies on the EncroChat encrypted service while using the same phone to arrange the hit The alleged hitman was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder in the early hours of June 3 2020, which the defendants were unaware of. Kharouti increased the offer to £120,000 but an EncroChat user trying to locate an individual for him said the price should be no less than £200,000, the court was told. Harding, who had previous convictions for drugs and false documents, was arrested at Geneva airport in Switzerland on December 27 2021 and extradited from Switzerland. Kharouti was extradited from Turkey to the UK on June 25 last year. Giving evidence, Harding denied using the handle 'the topsking', saying it belonged to an 'intimate' male partner called TK, who he refused to identify. Judge Anthony Leonard told both men they face 'substantial sentences.' Mr Atkinson told an earlier court hearing that the pair were responsible for 'approximately 50 importations of cocaine into the UK with a total weight of approximately 1,000 kilograms. 'The messages also show that once the cocaine was in the UK, it was broken into smaller parcels, of between 5kg and 10kg, and distributed across the UK to wholesale purchasers, who would then sell to end users,' he said. The barrister said the gangsters made £60-70,000 per importation, and about £5m in profit overall in just 10 weeks. However, the total street value was around £100million. Harding shared photos of himself behind the wheel of luxury cars A photo of Harding's Bugatti Chiron supercar - one of a fleet he had in Dubai Mr Atkinson said Kharouti contacted one of his associates, Calvin Crump, known as 'brickmover', asking for his help in sourcing a bike, or a dinger (stolen car) and a strap (gun), specifying a Glock pistol. Crump, 29, then offered to source a gunman, the court heard. Just 40 minutes later Kharouti contacted another associate who used the handle 'notnice' and asked him to provide a 'shooter' to undertake 'full M' - a murder.' Jimmy Gottshalk, 37, known as 'Notnice', recruited Ematuwo, known as 'randommist', to shoot an unnamed individual, jurors heard. Harding directed Kharouti as to when the hit should happen and made arrangements to get a the gun, the prosecutor said. Kharouti described Harding as 'the brains.' Harding also used his EncroChat handle to book a table for his family at the Nusr et Steakhouse in Dubai - a creation of internet superstar Nusret 'Salt Bae' Gökçe. The handle was linked with a number ending '9627' which was used to book flights in Harding's name to Dubai and Geneva in Harding's name between 9 February and 4 March 2020. He also booked a Mother's Day meal at a restaurant at the Four Seasons resort in Dubai using the handle and bragged about taking his 'mrs' out to the Zumas Japanese restaurant using the same name. In May 2020 'thetopsking' messaged that he was staying at the Waldorf in Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah for the weekend and sent an image of the hotel pool. Enquiries with the Hilton Hotel Group showed that Harding had indeed stayed at the Waldorf Astoria on that date. Two other EncroChat users were told by 'Thetopsking' that he had been sentenced to nine years and eight years imprisonment when he was 21. The prosecutor said: 'Records show that Harding was sentenced to nine years and eight years imprisonment when he was 21 years and 8 months of the details shared by 'thetopsking' therefore matched the position of Harding.' Harding was first arrested by the Swiss Police at Geneva Airport on 27 December 2021. He was extradited from Switzerland to the UK on 27 May 2022 and met by Met Police officers when he landed at Heathrow on a jet. The case formed part of a wider operation targeting criminals who used EncroChat. Detective Chief Inspector Jim Casey, who led the investigation, said: 'This conviction sends a clear message: no matter how sophisticated the methods, criminals cannot hide behind encrypted software. 'This operation dismantled a major supply chain and is a testament to the relentless work of our officers. 'We monitored their drug-dealing activity but then we saw the group discussing the contract killing of a rival. We moved fast to protect those in danger. 'Harding and Kharouti planned to kill, we stopped that and put them before the courts.' Detective Inspector Driss Hayoukane, who oversaw the Met's EncroChat operation, said: 'Thanks to the tenacity and commitment from Met officers, over 500 criminals have been successfully convicted since the EncroChat platform was cracked back in 2020, leading to well over 5,000 years of sentences being handed down to those involved. 'This represents our commitment to combating illegal drug supply, as well as the serious violence that comes with it. 'Our work doesn't stop here - we will continue to pursue those who profit from bringing harm to our communities and will continue to deliver our mission of reducing crime.' The pair were remanded to custody to be sentenced on Thursday. Previously, Calvin Crump, 29, of Redhill, Surrey; Khuram Ahmed, 38, of Slough; and Peter Thompson, 61 of south-west London, had admitted the cocaine conspiracy charge with Thompson pleading guilty to possession of a pistol. A man alleged to have been the proposed hitman was cleared.
