Brighton man jailed for six years in Bali for having drugs

A 43-year-old man from Brighton has been jailed for six years in Bali for having almost an ounce (23 grams) of cocaine.

Julian Ponder was also fined a billion rupiah (£65,000) for an offence that is punishable by life imprisonment.

The cocaine was estimated to be worth about £4,000.

Ponder was cleared by the court in Indonesia of smuggling drugs, an offence that carries the death penalty.

He was one of four Britons held there last year, including a grandmother, Lindsay Sandiford, 56, from Cheltenham, who faces death by firing squad for smuggling cocaine.

Ponder’s partner Rachel Dougall, 39, is expected to be released from her one-year jail term by April for failing to report a crime.

She was sentenced before Christmas after several months of being held on remand. The court cleared her of smuggling drugs.

She and Ponder, who have a six-year-old daughter, were accused of being at the centre of a drug smuggling ring.

The fourth Briton, Paul Beales, 40, was jailed for four years for having a small quantity of drugs.