Mum’s freedom delay as she leaves Bali jail
THE thin face and frame of Byron Bay mother Sara Connor was obscured by a sarong as she left her home of the past four years, Bali’s notorious Kerobokan jail on Thursday.
Wearing a light grey Tshirt, Connor was surrounded by more than a dozen local police, prison staff and lawyer Edward Pangkahila, who represented Australian bodyguard John McLeod.
Leaving the prison by a small side door, Connor was rushed to a waiting car to take her to Bali’s immigration office at the airport before being deported to Australia.
The Italian-born Australian, 49, served four years of her five-year sentence for her part in the fatal bashing of a policeman on Kuta beach in 2016 with her former DJ boyfriend David Taylor, a Brit who remains in jail.
The head of Bali’s women prison, Mrs Lili, said that Connor, who is famously paranoid about having her photo taken, was looking forward to reuniting with her two young sons, whom she has not since her ordeal began on Kuta beach on August 16, 2016 with the brutal death of police officer Wayan Sudarsa.
Her sons are now aged 13 and 15.
“Sara looks
Mrs Lili said.
“She said goodbye to me very happy,” and said she would not return here. She only carried one backpack of belongings. She distributed all of her clothes to her friends in prison.
“Sara also brought the hair dressing certificate that she earned while in prison.
According to Mr McLeod, the man who supported Schapelle Corby during her release from the same prison in 2017, Connor is yet to secure her Australian passport.
“Ms Connor is still waiting to be issued with travel documents, which were requested 91 days ago from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,” Mr McLeod said in a statement from Australia.
“Upon receipt of these documents, Ms Connor will be repatriated.
Mr McLeod was unable to travel to Bali due to COVID-19 restrictions of flights and visas.
He said that Connor could not go anywhere without a passport.