Silly hey,they bring drugs into australia, people die from drug...

Silly hey,they bring drugs into australia, people die from drug overdoses, this doesn't matter since they are all great kids hey?




A 'naive kid' pays the price for easy money
By Ellen Connolly and Jordan Baker
April 20, 2005

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Top row, from left: Renae Lawrence, 27, Wallsend, Newcastle; Si Yi Chen, 20, Doonside, Sydney; Andrew Chan, 21, Enfield, Sydney
Second row, from left: Matthew James Norman, 18, Quakers Hill, Sydney; Martin Eric Stephens, 29, Towradgi, near Wollongong; Tach Duc Thanh Nguyen, 27, Brisbane
Last row, from left: Scott Anthony Rush, 19, Brisbane; Michael William Czugaj, 19, Brisbane; Myuran Sukumaran, 24, Auburn, Sydney
Photo: Agencies
By all accounts, Renae Lawrence was desperate for money.

Her car had broken down two months ago and would cost at least $1000 to get back on the road. On top of that, she had car loan repayments and a mounting credit card debt.

After paying for food and rent, there was little money left over from her job at catering firm Eurest, at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

It was a chance meeting with a colleague, Andrew Chan - the alleged mastermind of a heroin smuggling operation - that could, she thought, solve all her money problems.

Ms Lawrence's father, Robert, said yesterday that she had been pretty desperate.

"She was upset when the car blew up. She was crying on the phone to her aunty wanting money," he said. "She was doing it tough. I don't think she's ever had a lot of money."

A Eurest source told The Age yesterday that Mr Chan was offering his colleagues, including Ms Lawrence, free trips to Bali.

Whether Ms Lawrence knew the extent of what was involved in accepting the trip is not known. But it seems she took up the offer.

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AdvertisementSo too did her two other colleagues (now co-accused) Matthew Norman, 18, of Quakers Hill, and Martin Stephens, 29, from Towradgi near Wollongong.

All four were employed as Bali and did they want to go," the Compass source said. "A few guys I know said no but obviously others did (want to go)." Police sources say Lawrence, Norman and Stephens were being paid $10,000 to carry the heroin, which had a street value of $4 million, into Australia.

According to Mr Lawrence, his daughter was naive and easily led. She had never left Australia before.

"Somebody has bought her a passport and the plane ticket," he said. "Maybe somebody offered this to her and said 'There's no risk' (and) not knowing what it involved or anything else she has gone along with it."

Word filtered back from Bali yesterday that Lawrence had tried to pull out of the drugs operation.

Mr Lawrence said his daughter had phoned her stepbrother after her arrest and explained that she had been forced to do the job. "She told Allan that if she did not do it there was going to be action taken against her family," he said.

"She is not 27 at heart. She's probably 15. She's just really gullible, naive and bloody stupid. She's not a bad kid. She's just got in with the wrong mob."

Compass general manager Richard Errington said he was shocked when he heard four employees had been arrested.

He said Lawrence had been a hard worker, mainly at Compass' Newcastle operation.

"Renae's worked, I know, in Newcastle for us and I know that she's worked in Sydney for us, and she's a very, very polite, shy, a very shy young woman that's an extremely hard worker," he told the ABC.

"I couldn't be any more shocked; words fail me, sorry."

He said the four held their jobs because their performance and punctuality were never in question.

Chan was a part-time cook at Sydney's Aussie Stadium and a "polite young fellow", he said. The other three worked in storerooms at various venues carrying out tasks such as driving forklifts and in unpacking and distribution roles.

"I knew Andrew (Chan) and Renae by face. You get to know most of your people by face and not by name," Mr Errington said.

Chan's sister said last night that the family was preparing to fly to Bali to support him. "We are just in the process of organising flights," she said.

Earlier his brother Michael asked the media to leave him alone while he sought legal advice. When asked how he felt, he replied: "Sad."

One of Chan's neighbours, in the Sydney suburb of Enfield, said she had known him since he was a young boy. "He was such a nice boy," said the woman, who did not want to be identified. "He was just like any ordinary boy."

His parents, Ken and Helen Chan, were "wonderful people" who had recently retired from running their restaurant and had been enjoying life after work, the neighbour said. "They're both in their 60s. It's a shame they've got to have this worry."

Former schoolmates and neighbours of Stephens described him yesterday as a "quiet kid".

"He was really a quiet guy who never hung out with anybody," one former school friend said. "I remember he was pretty smart. He never had dramas or anything at school."

One neighbour, told that Stephens was accused of smuggling heroin out of Bali, said "You're joking. I haven't seen him for a week or so. Now I know why."

His family are believed to have rushed to Bali to be by his side. "It's a shame. They're nice people," one neighbour said.

Norman lived at Quakers Hill with his single father and one of his sisters. They were not available for comment yesterday.

Neighbours said father and son would argue occasionally and the family had suffered a spate of break-ins a few years ago but were generally liked.

Jamal Lawson, who has known Norman since primary school and worked with him selling food at Aussie Stadium, was shocked to learn he had been accused of smuggling heroin.

Mr Lawson, who quit his job at Compass more than a year ago, said Norman had become more involved in work since leaving school in year 10.

He said he had known Norman was going on a holiday but did not know where.

He said drug smuggling was out of character for his friend, who enjoyed the odd drink, but would never touch heroin. "He was so withdrawn," Mr Lawson said. "I don't know how he got himself involved."

- With AAP, Megan Levy