WA man Aaron Wayne Coyle sent to mental health hospital in Bali after drugs conviction
Perth man Aaron Wayne Coyle has avoided a Bali jail cell but instead will serve his drugs sentence in a mental health hospital.
Coyle appeared “virtually” in a Bali court on Thursday to hear his verdict after his arrest last year on drugs charges.
Judges found Coyle guilty of using drugs for himself and sentenced him to 10 months in a rehabilitation centre.
The former Perth man avoided serving his sentence in Bali’s Kerobokan jail after judges found he was a drug user and addict and had been using drugs for the past 20 years.
Instead, he will serve the balance of his 10 months – less time served since his arrest in September 2020 – in the Bangli mental health hospital.
Coyle, who was stuck in Bali as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, was arrested in possession of 1.23 grams of methamphetamine.
Handing down the verdict on Thursday, presiding judge Putra Atmaja said that the trial had not revealed any reason that Coyle should go free.
“Based on medical assessments, the defendant has been using drugs for 20 years,” the judge said.
He said that Coyle had a medical history of depression, requiring medication every day.
“However because of COVID-19 the defendant can’t go back to his own country and his medication has run out,” Judge Atmaja said.
“He decided to use methamphetamine to reduce his pain.
