Bali danger

The arrest of a Perth teen in Bali over alleged drug offences and the way a nightclub security guard manhandled him is every parent’s nightmare.

Fortunately it eventually ended OK for 18-year-old Jamie Murphy but  what occurred highlighted how the drug dangers lurking out there for our children are magnified tenfold in places like Bali.

All the pitfalls facing our teens here at home are nothing compared to what awaits them if they run into trouble in Bali where Indonesia’s super strict drug laws exist.

Jamie was arrested at Bali’s popular Kuta nightclub precinct after a security search at Skygarden allegedly uncovered a small amount of powder in his bumbag.

Under Indonesian law the young Australian soccer star faced being held for up to three days before officially being named a suspect.

From the beginning, he protested his innocence which meant nothing to the burly security guard who grabbed the tall skinny lad around the head.

Then he had to wait a couple of days at the police station at Kuta before forensic testing showed he had not broken any laws.

Where the bag of crushed headache tablets came from is still not certain.

Was he conned by a drug dealer or was it planted on him?  

At this stage it’s not clear. But what is clear is that Bali is a dangerous place for our kids on their own, whether they are Schoolies or not.

What is also clear is the Indonesian Police need to get out on the streets and grab the low-level dealers who are left untouched to entice our teenagers.

Photo Credit: Nashyo Hansel & Adam Harvey

POSTSCRIPT: It later emerged that the security guard, named as father-of-two Imanuel Hede, had lost his job because of the film of his heavy handedness. Hede, who said he was wondering how he would now provide for his family, apologised, saying “It was just a reflex reaction” to Murphy’s struggle to break free.