Darwin drug offender home in days

A Darwin man convicted of trying to smuggle medical drugs from Bali to Australia could be home by the end of the week.

Christopher Currall, 37, was sentenced to six months' jail by an Idonesian court yesterday.

He has already served that time at Bali's notorious Kerobokan prison. The former Darwin seafood importer was arrested last September and accused of trying to send 54,645 tablets of ephedrine and a commercial quantity of it in powder form. One of his co-accused, Phillip Douglas Primmer, was acquitted by a Supreme Court jury in Darwin last week after a three-week trial.

Indonesian police found the stash hidden inside water bottles placed in a large flower pot.

Ephedrine is used in cold tablets but it is also the main ingredient of methamphetamine, more commonly known as speed.

Indonesian police caught Currall at a cargo company's office in Kuta trying to send the parcel back to Raymond Larry Thomsen, who Currall said was a Darwin business associate.

But Currall denied trying to send ephedrine home, saying he was duped by an Indonesian man he met in Bali who was now wanted by authorities.

The three judges said there was insufficient evidence to convict Currall of distribution but found him guilty of possessing a commercial quantity of drugs and practising as a pharmacist without an Indonesian health authority licence.

He was sentenced to six months in jail plus a fine of three million rupiah, or A$406, less than the 10 months prosecutors asked for.

The sentence was far lighter than the 15 years Currall could have received and means he could leave jail today and fly back to Australia.

His lawyers said Currall would pay the fine and be transferred to an Indonesian immigration detention centre until his passport was returned and then be deported back to Australia.

"People have looked after me very well," Currall said, embracing his lawyers.

"I was expecting 12 months ... I couldn't be happier."

He had been afraid of a heavier punishment because of the international attention on the case of fellow Australian Schapelle Corby, who is on trial for her life after being caught with 4.1kg of marijuana at Bali airport last October.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Tue, 22 March 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/

Editors note: On Wednesday the 23rd of March, 2005, the Northern Territory News published a retraction and unreserved apology to Phillip Douglas Primmer due to major mistakes in the article, including confusing two seperate court cases. The Network Against Prohibition also apologise to Mr Primmer for any inconvenience we caused by archiving that story in our NT Drug News Vault. For interests sake, have a look at the Australian Associated Press version.