Lindsay Sandiford is facing death by firing squad (Image: Getty)
A British mum is set to face court today in Bali, accused of smuggling £300,000 worth of cocaine into Indonesia hidden in packets of Angel Delight.
Lisa Stocker, 39, along with her partner Jon Collyer, 39, and Phineas Float, 31, all hailing from East Sussex, could be sentenced to death if found guilty.
Another Briton, Lindsay Sandiford, has been languishing on death row in Bali for the past 12 years after being caught attempting to smuggle £1.6million worth of cocaine into Indonesia in her suitcase.
The penalties in Indonesia are harsh, with most drug traffickers and dealers facing the death sentence.
The execution method is harrowing – a firing squad. Convicts are led to a grassy area where they can choose to sit or stand before armed soldiers take aim at their hearts, reports the Daily Record.
However, if a convict survives the firing squad, the commander is then required to shoot them in the head.
Indonesia carries out executions sporadically, with most inmates waiting on death row for over a decade. The last executions in Indonesia occurred in 2015 and 130 people, including Lindsay Sandiford, are currently awaiting their fate, according to the Mirror.
Sandiford is being held in Kerobokan Prison in Bali (Image: Getty)
Former legal secretary Sandiford, originally from Redcar in the North East, had spent many years working in management at a law firm in Cheltenham. She rented a house in the town but was evicted when she failed to keep up with her rent payments.
The mother-of-two, who had separated from her husband, decided to relocate to India in 2012.
However, upon her arrival in Bali from Bangkok, Thailand on May 19, 2012, she was arrested after a substantial amount of cocaine was found in her luggage. Sandiford maintained that she had been forced to transport the Class A drugs by a criminal gang, who had threatened her family’s safety if she refused.
Yet, when informed a conviction for drug trafficking could lead to the death penalty, the grandmother dramatically changed her story.
Overwhelmed, she confessed to officers that she had been asked to smuggle the drugs by an antiques dealer named Julian Ponder, a Brit living in Bali, and his partner Rachel Dougall.
Sandiford even agreed to take part in a police sting operation to catch the pair, along with a third individual, Paul Beales.
After a search of Ponder’s home, both he and Sandiford were charged with drug trafficking.
Lisa Ellen Stocker pictured during her trial at a court in Denpasar, Bali (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
There was no evidence linking Dougall and Beales to the same crime, resulting in them being charged with lesser offences.
Sandiford’s legal team argued that she had been coerced into smuggling the drugs and was struggling with mental health issues.
Despite their appeals, she was found guilty – even though the prosecution had requested a 15-year prison sentence instead of the death penalty.
Dougall was found guilty of failing to report a crime and was sentenced to a year in prison, while Beales was convicted of possessing hashish and handed a four-year sentence.
Ponder was cleared of drug smuggling but was convicted of narcotics possession, leading to a six-year prison term.
Despite the prosecution’s appeals, on 22 January 2013, she was sentenced to death by the judges.
Sandiford attempted to appeal against the decision, but she had depleted all her resources and couldn’t afford legal representation.
A fundraising campaign successfully gathered enough money to bring an Indonesian lawyer to Bali for her appeal, which was sadly dismissed.
Sandiford then took her case to the Indonesian Supreme Court, but this appeal was also turned down.
Since then, the grandmother has been held in Kerobokan Prison, Bali.
The prison, originally built to house just 300 inmates, currently accommodates over 1,400 men and women.
Riots and violence from guards are regular events.
While incarcerated, Sandiford spends her time knitting items, which she then sells to fund her legal appeals.
She has even started teaching other prisoners how to knit.
Sandiford was arrested, after disembarking from a flight from Bangkok, Thailand at Denpasar’s Ngurah Rai International Airport for allegedly attempting to smuggle 4,7 kg of cocaine (Image: EPA)
However, the stress of spending such a long period on death row is affecting Sandiford, who became friends with suitcase murderer Heather Mack during her time in prison.
Mack served a 10-year sentence for the murder of her mother, whose body was then packed into a suitcase by her boyfriend.
Mack was handed a 10-year sentence while her partner Tommy Schaefer received 18 years back in 2015, after they were convicted of the murder of Sheila von Wiese-Mack.
Mack has revealed that Sandiford’s demeanour grew increasingly solitary throughout her incarceration.
Mack stated: “I am friends with Lindsay but she has been difficult to speak to recently.
“She spends all day pretty much alone in her cell and doesn’t mix so much with the other prisoners.
Lindsay Sandiford knitting in prison (Image: Gloucestershire Live)
“She snaps at me for no reason but I still make an effort with her.”
In a candid conversation with Mack, Lindsay shared the chilling moment of realisation when she saw two fellow inmates unexpectedly executed for narcotics offences.
Describing the shocking event, Mack recalled Lindsay’s anguish: “They had turned their lives around and were different people to when they were convicted, so everyone thought they would be OK.
“Lindsay understood that if it could happen to them, it could happen to her, and that was when the reality of her predicament truly dawned on her.”
Now faced with the stark reality of her fate, Lindsay has expressed a poignant final wish.
According to Mack, Lindsay admitted: “She has said she wants to die.”
Sandiford says she has accepted her fat and feels “blessed” she saw her sons grow up (Image: Facebook/Justice and Fairness for Lindsay Sandiford)
Mack was confided in by Lindsay, who admitted: “It won’t be a hard thing for me to face anymore.
“Although not the death I would have chosen, the prospect of dying painfully from cancer isn’t appealing either.
“I do feel I can cope with it. But when it happens I don’t want my family to come. I don’t want any fuss at all. The one thing certain about life is no one gets out alive.”
In a show of resilience, Lindsay expressed that despite her death row sentence, she feels “blessed” to have witnessed her two sons grow up and meet her grandchildren.
Her spirit remains unbroken as she declared: “My attitude is ‘If you want to shoot me, shoot me. Get on with it’.”
Lindsay Sandiford continues to await her fate on death row.