A WOMAN from the North-East facing drug charges in Indonesia has told a Bali court there are many inaccuracies in the prosecution’s case.
Lindsay Sandiford, 56, who was born in Redcar, has been charged with selling or facilitating the sale of more than 5g of narcotics.
She appeared without a lawyer, and said she would respond in full at her next hearing, scheduled for Wednesday.
The court will appoint a lawyer for her if she does not have one by then.
Mrs Sandiford, who now lives in Gloucestershire, covered her head with a blue scarf to keep it hidden from the cameras.
It was her second appearance without a lawyer. Her first appearance was last week, and the hearing was immediately postponed because she did not have a lawyer.
Yesterday, judges said that since she has had a week to find one, the court proceedings would go ahead.
Mrs Sandiford was arrested on May 19 at the island’s Ngurah Rai Airport after arriving from Bangkok.
Officers searched her luggage and cocaine is alleged to have been found stashed inside the lining of her suitcase.
She spent several days being interrogated by drugs squad officers and since then has been detained in solitary confinement.
She was recently moved to Bali’s Kerobokan prison, where the three other Britons charged in the case – Paul Beales, Julian Ponder and Rachel Dougall – are also being held.
Mr Ponder made his first court appearance on Thursday. He faced the same charge as Mrs Sandiford.
The charge of selling or facilitating the sale of more than 5g of drugs is potentially punishable by death, but prosecutors said they were only seeking a jail term of 20 years for him.
His next court hearing is expected to be held on Thursday.
All four people were arrested in May by Bali police for allegedly importing 4.8kg cocaine, worth £1.6m.
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