Bali Nine smuggler avoids Aussie jail - Ipswich Advertiser
CONVICTED drug mule Renae Lawrence has avoided spending time in an Australian jail for a 2005 high-speed stolen car chase committed just weeks before her Bali 9 heroin arrest.
Lawrence was convicted and placed on a 12-month community corrections order over the chase with police across NSW.
Newcastle Local Court magistrate Sharron Crews told Lawrence, 41, that the charges against her were serious and a conviction had to be recorded.
Lawrence was placed on a 12-month community corrections order, disqualified from driving for three months and fined $1000.
Ms Crews said Lawrence's case was not one where a warrant had been issued for her arrest and police found her years later when she had turned her life around.
Renae Lawrence arrives at Newcastle Local Court for sentencing. Picture: Darren Pateman
Lawrence, who returned to Australia last November after serving 13 years for her part in the Bali Nine drug plot, was facing multiple charges dating back to around 4am on March 26, 2005.
On that day, Lawrence stole a white Ford Laser hatch in the Sydney suburb of Enfield.
She then drove it to Mooney Mooney on the NSW Central Coast and with police in pursuit, she got up to a speed of 130km/h in a 90km/h zone before she was arrested.
Lawrence was facing charges of car theft, driving without a licence, exceeding the speed limit and failing to stop for police when she travelled to Bali in April 2005.
On April 17, 2005 Indonesian police arrested Lawrence at Denpasar airport with 2.7kg of heroin strapped to her body.
Martin Stephens and Renae Lawrence wearing signs marked suspect at Ngurah Rai Airport in June 2005.
Eight male Bali Nine conspirators were arrested, with a total of 8.3kg of heroin uncovered.
Lawrence received the lightest sentence of 20 years which she whittled down with sentence reductions for good behaviour.
The Bali Nine masterminds, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were sentenced to death and executed by firing squad in 2015.
Court documents reveal Lawrence has been suffering from anxiety and depression since her release from Indonesian custody and return to Australia.
Soon after arriving home, she handed herself into police over the outstanding charges.
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