British Gran On Death Row Waiting For Execution Has One Final Chilling Wish

A British grandma living on death row in a Bali prison has revealed her chilling final wish. 

Lindsay Sandiford, 65, has spent nine years behind bars after being caught attempting to smuggle a suitcase of cocaine worth £1.6 million into Indonesia in 2012. 

The former legal secretary was subsequently locked up and sentenced to death by court in the country, where it’s likely she’ll be killed by firing squad.

But since Indonesia doesn’t carry out these executions frequently - the last known cases were in 2016 - she’s been waiting on death row for nearly a decade and has been unable to spend any length of time with her sons as they grow up and start families of their own. 

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According to The Mirror, Sandiford, originally from Cheltenham, knits various items in prison which she sells in order to raise funds for her legal costs. 

She also befriended Heather Mack, who was sentenced to 10 years for killing her mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack.

Mack said Sandiford struggled and became difficult to speak to as her time behind bars continued. 

"She spends all day pretty much alone in her cell and doesn’t mix so much with the other prisoners,” she said. 

The American killer - who served seven years of her 10-year sentence - also revealed Sandiford’s one final wish, stating: "She has said she wants to die."

Adding to this, Sandiford explained: "It won't be a hard thing for me to face anymore.

"It's not particularly a death I would choose but then again I wouldn't choose dying in agony from cancer either."

The British gran is currently being held in Kerobokan prison, which was built in 1979 to hold 320 prisoners.

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But as of 2017 almost 1,300 inmates were being packed into the penitentiary, and the issue of overcrowding remains even after a newly built facility was launched in 2018. 

Sandiford is still waiting to hear when her execution date will be, and until then she is left in limbo. 

She previously separated from her husband and made the decision to move to India in 2012, only to then get caught up in the drugs bust. 

After she was caught, Sandiford claimed she was pressured into carrying the drugs by a gang who had made threats against her children, and her lawyers also argued she was suffering from mental health problems.

Speaking to the court during her trial, she expressed regret over her involvement, stating: "I would like to begin by apologising to the Republic of Indonesia and the Indonesian people for my involvement.

"I would never have become involved in something like this but the lives of my children were in danger and I felt I had to protect them.”

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At the time, in a statement to the House of Commons, Hugo Swire, Minister of State for the Foreign Office, expressed his concern about the decision.

"We are aware that Lindsay Sandiford is facing the death penalty in Indonesia,” he said.

"We strongly object to the death penalty and continue to provide consular assistance to Lindsay and her family during this difficult time."

Sandiford appealed against the decision but she had no money left to pay for a legal team.

Topics: UK News, World News, Crime, Drugs

Daisy Phillipson

Daisy graduated from Kingston University with a degree in Magazine Journalism, writing a thesis on the move from print to digital publishing. Continuing this theme, she has written for a range of online publications including Digital Spy and Little White Lies, with a particular passion for TV and film. Contact her on [email protected]

@DaisyWebb77