• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Final wish of British grandmother revealed after she has spent 12 years on death row with fresh ‘hope of being released’

Home> News> Crime

Updated 17:46 15 Jul 2025 GMT+1Published 17:43 15 Jul 2025 GMT+1

Final wish of British grandmother revealed after she has spent 12 years on death row with fresh ‘hope of being released’

Lindsay Sandiford has spent more than a decade on death row in Bali

Jen Thomas

Jen Thomas

A British grandmother has 'sunk into a depression' while she hopes for release from a 'hell-hole' prison in Bali, where she has remained for over a decade.

Lindsay Sandiford was locked up following a drug-smuggling arrest back in 2012, and was sentenced to death by firing squad on the Indonesian island.

The now-69-year-old was caught at the airport smuggling £1.6 million of cocaine into Bali from Bangkok, Thailand, and has spent more than a decade in cramped conditions at the notorious Kerobokan prison on death row.

Now, a former acquaintance of Sandiford has revealed the horrifying 'final' wish of the grandmother-of-two, who reportedly spends her time behind bars teaching other inmates how to knit.

Advert

Heather Mack served a 10-year sentence for the murder of her mother and met Sandiford while behind bars, saying in 2019: "She spends all day pretty much alone in her cell and doesn't mix so much with the other prisoners."

The American then claimed that Sandiford's final wish is for her to 'die'.

Grandmother-of-two Lindsay Sandiford has been on death row in Bali for more than a decade (SONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP via Getty Images)
Grandmother-of-two Lindsay Sandiford has been on death row in Bali for more than a decade (SONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP via Getty Images)

The grandmother allegedly said of her death: "It won't be a hard thing for me to face anymore. I might not have chosen this kind of end, but then again, dying in agony from cancer isn't exactly 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."

Advert

Her wish came before there was recently renewed hope of release, thanks to a change in legislation in the country.

Sandiford, who was once a legal secretary, has been seen giving away her belongings, as she is so convinced that she will be released soon.

The Myanmar Accountability Project has reported that capital punishment may be changed to a life prison term if the prisoner shows a 'commendable attitude and actions'.

It is said that Sandiford has displayed good behaviour while in prison, and has served more than a decade behind bars.

A source said to The Mirror: "She's given away all her clothes and things she had because she was expecting to be released already. But it's understood she will be released in a few months, along with other Westerners.

Advert

She has been behind bars at the notoriously cramped Kerobokan prison since 2013 (SONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP via Getty Images)
She has been behind bars at the notoriously cramped Kerobokan prison since 2013 (SONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP via Getty Images)

"The new Indonesian president has, among his many changes, said he wants to reduce the numbers in jail. Local people are being released, then overseas people are to be looked at. Already the Australian drug group known as the Bali Nine are back in Australia."

The 'hell-hole' prison is seriously overcrowded, with ITV reporting that Sandiford has been sharing a cell with 13 women, in a 10ft by 8ft-wide room designed to hold three inmates.

Sources say she is regarded as the 'queen' or the 'grandmother' of the prison, and is the only one with a proper mattress and dines on steak once a week due to receiving preferential treatment behind bars.

Sandiford also had the chance to be reunited with her family for the first time in years.

Advert

A source said she had 'cuddles and kisses' with her grandchildren' after her family were allowed a rare visit to Kerobokan Prison.

They told The Mirror: "She was happy and all went well. 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. But she was allowed to hold her family and have cuddles and kisses."

Featured Image Credit: Getty/Sonny Tumbelaka

Topics: Crime, Death Row, Drugs, True Crime, World News

Jen Thomas
Jen Thomas

Jen is an experienced SEO writer and radio presenter with too many houseplants and tattoos, and spends most of her time watching new bands or trying to teach her rescue puppy tricks.

X

@jenthomasradio

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

5 hours ago
8 hours ago
  • 5 hours ago

    Keir Starmer speaks out after British girl sent home from school for wearing Union Jack dress on culture day

    The school has since issued an apology

    News
  • 5 hours ago

    Brit, 69, detained after ‘smuggling £350k-worth of drugs in secret compartment of his car’ into Spain

    He was said to be boarding the car ferry in Ceuta, Spain

    News
  • 8 hours ago

    Doctor reveals patient's brain turned blue after taking 'limitless pill' that's gone viral on TikTok

    People on social media have hailed the substance a ‘game changer for mental clarity and longevity’

    News
  • 8 hours ago

    Doctor shares the nine warning signs of heart failure and how to spot them

    Dr Jen Caudle has revealed the nine 'most common' symptoms of the condition

    News
  • British grandmother who has spent 12 years on death row made telling act in ‘hope she will be released’
  • Final hope of British grandmother who has spent 11 years awaiting execution on death row in Indonesian prison
  • Chilling final wish of British grandmother who has spent 11 years awaiting execution on death row in Indonesian prison
  • British grandmother who has spent 12 years awaiting execution on death row had one major criticism of UK government