UK foreign office 'lost important evidence' linked to death row grandmother

Claims the UK foreign office lost important evidence linked to Bali death row drug trafficker Lindsay Sandiford must be urgently examined, say her lawyers.

British alleged drug trafficking suspect Lindsay Sandiford has her face covered inside a holding cell before her verdict trial at Denpasar district court in Bali, Indonesia, 22 January 2013. (AAP)

British alleged drug trafficking suspect Lindsay Sandiford has her face covered inside a holding cell before her verdict trial at Denpasar district court in Bali, Indonesia, 22 January 2013. (AAP) Source: EPA

Claims of lost evidence in the case of Bali's death row grandmother Lindsay Sandiford strengthen the case for a British inquiry, her defence team argues.

The UK's vice-consul Alys Harahap has lost an appeal of her dismissal from the foreign office over having a relationship with another British inmate, Julian Ponder, the UK's Mail on Sunday reports.

She told the newspaper the affair claims are "absolute rubbish" and has demanded Ponder's so-called evidence - secret recordings of phone sex made from his cell - be examined to disprove it is her.

Sandiford, 58, alleges it was Ponder, 44, who manipulated her into carrying cocaine worth more than $3 million into Bali in 2012, by threatening her son.

Mrs Harahap also told the Mail on Sunday her superiors in Bali lost a drawing by Ponder of the false bottom suitcase Sandiford used to carry the drugs.

She claims Ponder told her the drugs Sandiford was carrying were his - but no action was taken over the lost drawing.

"Since then I have asked repeatedly about where the paper is but they say they cannot find it," she told the newspaper.

Sandiford's New Zealand-based lawyer Craig Tuck says the loss of potentially vital evidence must be investigated.

"There needs to be an urgent inquiry into the handling of Lindsay's case by British officials and an immediate review of the decision by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond not to fund her legal fight to overturn her death penalty in spite of the recommendation of five Supreme Court judges," he said.

"A woman's life is at stake and it is horrifying to think the neglect and callousness of the British government may have effectively helped push one of its own nationals in front of the firing squad."

Sandiford refused consular help from Mrs Harahap as the rumours of the affair with Ponder circulated through Bali's Kerobokan jail.

In turn, Mrs Harahap told the UK newspaper the allegations against her were first raised by Sandiford to get back at the foreign office, which she felt had not helped her enough.

She says rather than being romantically attracted to Ponder, she too was "harassed and threatened" by him.

While Sandiford was sentenced to death for her role as a mule, Ponder's charge was reduced to drug possession, and he received only six years in jail.

Sandiford's legal team last week notified Indonesian authorities they would file a judicial review into her case in about six months.

Indonesia is planning more executions of drug offenders after last month sending eight people to the firing squad, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who once lived in the same Bali jail as Sandiford and Ponder.


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Source: AAP


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