Aussie teacher Vanessa Louise Crimmins accused of stealing backpacks and laptops in Bali is dealt another crushing blow as prosecutors make a grim demand
Prosecutors have recommended jail time for an Australian teacher accused of stealing two bags in Bali.
Vanessa Louise Crimmins, 45, is accused of stealing backpacks containing a HP laptop and a MacBook Air from outside Popular Deli, a supermarket in North Kuta on October 30.
She remains in custody in the notorious Kerobokan jail for the alleged offence and could spend up to five years in an Indonesian prison if found guilty.
Crimmins returned to Denpasar District Court for her ongoing trial on Thursday, where the prosecutor recommended that the panel of judges to find Crimmins guilty and sentence her to eight months jail.
‘The defendant has violated Article 362 subsection 2 of the criminal code,’ Lintang Jendro Rahmadita told the court.
The court heard that prosecutors took several mitigating factors into account while deliberating the recommendation.
They include the fact Crimmins has previously apologised for taking the bags and that she had never been charged with any other crime prior to her arrest oin October.
Crimmins told the court she has prepared a written statement that she will read out when the trial resumes next Thursday.
Vanessa Louise Crimmins, 45, is accused of stealing backpacks containing a HP laptop and a MacBook Air from a North Kuta supermarket
The Australian teacher is pictured arriving at Denpasar District Court on Thursday
Dressed in a white shirt, red prison vest and black pants with her hair in a braid, Crimmins shielded her face with a fan as she arrived at court for the hearing.
She sat quietly in the courtroom, clutching paperwork and using a fan to cool herself.
She nodded as she listened to advice from her legal team.
The Aussie teacher was transported back to Kerobokan after the hearing.
Crimmins previously blamed a case of ‘Bali belly’ for the alleged incident and claimed she never meant to intended to steal the backpacks and laptops.
‘At the beginning, from afar, I saw that there were two bags on the seat (outside the supermarket) and there was nobody watching them,’ she told the court a fortnight ago.
‘At that time, I had a problem with my stomach. I had Bali belly. So, I go went home first to the villa.’
Crimmins told the court she returned to the supermarket and that ‘the two bags were still on the seat and all the staff were busy’.
The Aussie teacher remains in custody in the notorious Kerobokan jail for the alleged offence
She was about to hand a backpack over but had to run to her accommodation to use the toilet and took the bag with her.
‘I was actually sick at that time after surgery. I still take medicine (for it),’ Crimmins told the court.
‘Later on, I went back to the deli … but I could not find the security. There was no security there.’
She saw that the other bag was still on a seat outside the shop. ‘Then I took it. And got problem with my stomach again, so I went home to my villa and brought the second bag.’
When she went back to the store yet again, she wanted to ask what she should do with the bags, but instead she was held on suspicion of theft.
Vanessa Crimmins plans to address the court when the trial resumes next Thursday
Crimmins apologised when asked why she didn’t look for security instead of taking other people’s belongings back to her villa.
‘I was not well at that time. I really apologise. My intention was only to secure (the bags),’ she said.
The bags belonging to Jakarta man Ardi Nurcahyadi, 42, and Denpasar university student Ni Nyoman Ari Purwaningsih, 24 were allegedly stolen over a 90-minute period.
CCTV was reviewed after one of the men alerted the Popular Deli security chief that their bag had been taken.
The footage allegedly showed Crimmins taking the man’s bag and a second one an hour later outside the shop.
Police alleged that after the arrest, the stolen bags and computers were found during a search of the North Kuta villa where Crimmins was staying.
CCTV footage from outside the supermarket appeared to show Vanessa Crimmins picking up two backpacks
Until recently, the prison held two members of the Bali Nine drug smuggling ring.
Si Yi Chen and Matthew Norman served out their sentences at Kerobokan before they returned to Australia in December.
Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran also spent their sentences on Kerobokan’s death row before they were executed in 2015.
It’s also where fellow Aussie Schapelle Corby served the majority of her nine-year jail term after she attempted to smuggle 4.1kg of marijuana in her bodyboard bag through Denpasar Airport in 2004.
