ABC reporter Peter Lloyd faces jail in Singapore with PTSD

Lloyd faces jail in Singapore
By Greg Jennett in Singapore

Posted Tue Dec 2, 2008 6:21am AEDT
Updated Tue Dec 2, 2008 6:53am AEDT


In court today: Peter Lloyd (AAP: Joseph Nair)
ABC reporter Peter Lloyd is today set to go to jail for breaking Singapore's tough anti-drug laws.

The 42-year-old will face the Subordinate Courts, where he will plead guilty to some of the four drugs charges against him.

Lloyd was arrested in Mount Elizabeth Hospital in July and charged with trafficking, possessing and consuming methamphetamine, or "ice".

He was also charged with having utensils for using the drug and Ketamine, better known among party drug users as "Special K".

Singapore's Attorney-General has since dropped the most serious trafficking charge, which would have carried jail terms of between five and 20 years and five to 15 strokes of the cane.

In return, Lloyd will plead guilty to some of the remaining charges.

Under Singaporean law, sentencing Judge James Leong could give Lloyd up to 10 years jail.

But lawyers will lodge submissions for the punishment to be reduced.

The guilty plea, contrition and a recent diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will be among the arguments.

The former Delhi-based foreign correspondent told Fairfax newspapers in November that his exposure to mass casualties in the Bali bombings and the 2004 tsunami in Thailand had left him in a "zombie" state of depression.

He said he had an "instant sense of wellbeing" when he smoked "ice" for the first time at a party in Singapore in February.
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/02/2434958.htm