24-05-2025
Drugs mule Lindsay Sandiford shares 'cuddles and kisses' with grandkids in Bali jail
Sandiford has spent over a decade on death row and is awaiting execution for smuggling cocaine.
Lindsay Sandiford shared "cuddles and kisses" with her grandchildren for the first time in years at a Bali prison
Drugs mule Lindsay Sandiford who has spent over a decade on death row has had a heart-wrenching visit from her family in a Bali prison, it is understood. The pensioner - who has spent more than 12 years awaiting execution for smuggling cocaine - is said to have shared "cuddles and kisses" with her grandchildren for the first time in years, reports The Mirror.
She was caught with 10lb of cocaine when she arrived in the Indonesian island from Bangkok in 2012. It was reported earlier this year that cocaine trafficker Sandiford is so convinced she will walk free that she has been giving her clothes to other inmates. Her newfound optimism comes following a change in the law in Indonesia.
The country has recently freed other smugglers who had been serving similar sentences as it relaxes its tough anti-drug laws. She has been held in Bali's hellhole Kerobokan jail since 2013 for bringing £1.6million of cocaine into the country.
A source previously told The Mirror: "For a long time Lindsay was resigned to her fate, but now she's dreaming of freedom. Foreign Office officials have spent a lot of time visiting her in prison and they're working hard to secure her freedom."
Last month, it was reported that former legal PA Sandiford, who previously lived in Redcar, is said to have shared "cuddles and kisses" with her grandchildren for the first time in years.
A prison source said: "She was happy and all went well. She met her grandchildren. Normally, these visits are held away from the normal meeting area but still have walls and iron bars with one door.
"There's always one or more guards who are stationed within earshot of the meeting. But she was allowed to hold her family and have cuddles and kisses."
Sandiford moved to India in 2012. She was arrested as she arrived in Bali from Bangkok on May 19, 2012, after cocaine was found in her luggage.
Originally she insisted she had been forced to carry the Class A drugs by a criminal gang which had threatened to hurt her family if she refused. However, she then changed her story when she was told she would receive the death penalty if convicted of drug trafficking.
She told officers she had been asked to carry the drugs by a British antiques dealer. Sandiford agreed to take part in a police sting to catch him, but she was still later charged with drug trafficking.
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She was sentenced to death on January 22, 2013. Two years later, she was given a temporary reprieve when Indonesia halted executions - but it wasn't to last.
During her time in prison Sandiford has knitted various items which she sells to try and raise money for her legal fees.
New legislation means Sandiford's death sentence could be converted into a life prison term as she has managed more than 10 years' good behaviour behind bars. 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, it has been reported.
