Australian reporter on Singapore drug charge moved to prison
Posted: 19 July 2008 1529 hrs
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SINGAPORE: An Australian television reporter charged with drug trafficking in Singapore has been moved from a local hospital to a prison medical facility, staff at the institutions said on Saturday.
Peter Gerard Lloyd, 41, was discharged from the Changi General Hospital, a hospital information staffer told AFP on Saturday.
Public enquiry officers from the prison service said Peter Gerard Lloyd was in the medical facility at the Changi Prison complex.
Lloyd, of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, is charged with trafficking about one gram (0.035 ounces) of methamphetamine to a Singaporean for S$100 (US$73.5) at a hotel early this month.
He also faces a second charge for allegedly being in possession of about one gram of the stimulant methamphetamine, also known as ‘ice’, at a local hospital.
A district judge and a police prosecutor were at Changi General Hospital on Friday afternoon to lay the charges on Lloyd, who is believed to be suffering from an eye infection.
A Central Narcotics Bureau spokeswoman told AFP that Lloyd has been offered bail and that his case will be next heard in court on Friday.
If convicted of the trafficking charge, Lloyd faces between five and 20 years’ imprisonment and five to 15 strokes of the cane.
An earlier Central Narcotics Bureau statement said investigations showed a 41-year-old Australian was the “supplier” to a Singaporean drug abuser arrested on Wednesday.
It did not name the Australian but said he was under investigation for trafficking a controlled drug.
The Australian was arrested and in the course of follow-up search, the officers recovered a packet of ‘ice’ weighing approximately 0.8 grams, one improvised smoking pipe and six syringes, the statement said.
Lloyd is on leave in Singapore from his posting in New Delhi, the director of ABC News, John Cameron, said on the network’s website.
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yo five to fifteen strokes with the cane