An Indonesian court sentenced the brother of British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay to 10 months in prison on Thursday 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 100mg of heroin from him.
A panel of judges found Ramsay guilty of heroin possession and sentenced Ramsay to 10 months in jail and a five million rupiah ($531) fine, head judge Wayan Merta said in a district court hearing in Bali’s capital, Denpasar.
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 verdict was unfair.
”All of the other Westerners caught with the same amount of heroin only received mild sentences of two, three months. He should have gotten the same sentence,” he told reporters after the hearing.
Indonesia imposes harsh penalties, including death, for narcotic offences as the country. A number of foreigners are currently on death row for drug offences. – Reuters