INDONESIA/FILE: TV Chef Gordon Ramsay's brother jailed for heroin possesion in Bali

An Indonesian court sentenced the brother of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay to 10 months in prison on Thursday (September 13) for heroin possession on the resort island of Bali. Ronald Ramsay was arrested in February after entering a supermarket in Bali's main tourist strip, Kuta. Police said they seized 100 milligrams of heroin from him. A panel of judges found Ramsay guilty of heroin possession and sentenced Ramsay to 10 months in jail and a 5 million rupiah (263 pounds) fine, head judge Wayan Merta said in a district court hearing in Bali's capital, Denpasar. "Firstly the accused, Ramsay Ronald, who has been accused of drug possession, will be sentenced according to the law. Secondly, he will be sentenced to ten months," Merta said. Ramsay has already spent six months in prison, which means he has another four months to serve in Denpasar's Kerobokan prison. Ramsay frowned and shook his head when the verdict was announced. Through his interpreter he later told the hearing that he would "think about the verdict for a week" before deciding whether to file an appeal. The defendant's brother, Gordon Ramsay, is known as the bad boy of celebrity chefs, and his cooking programme "Kitchen Nightmares" is shown on British and American television. In a previous hearing, Ronald Ramsay admitted he was a drug user, but his lawyer said he had started rehabilitation six months before his arrest. Indonesian prosecutors had sought a 14-month jail sentence for drug possession in earlier hearings. One of Ramsay's lawyers, Erwin Siregar, said the sentence was based on Ramsay being a drug user and not a trafficker. "According to the reports from the doctor and from the witnesses and the two officers who witnessed it, Ramsay is just a user of drugs, not a trafficker," Siregar said. Indonesia imposes harsh penalties, including death, for narcotic offences as the country. A number of foreigners are currently on death row for drug offences.

ITN Source | September 13, 2007