Last Thursday, Jamie Murphy, who faced two nights in a Bali jail on drug possession suspicions, returned to Perth.
At just 18 years old, Murphy was discovered with a transparent, sealable bag containing white powder. This bag is typically recognized as a ‘drug’ bag (for storing drugs, in case that wasn’t clear).
Upon investigation, it was revealed that the bag held crushed paracetamol and caffeine tablets — Murphy could have faced up to 12 years in jail or an $800,000 fine.
His treatment by the police was rather harsh, as was widely reported in the news.
Let’s break this down a bit.
During the news broadcast, Jamie Murphy proclaimed, ‘it isn’t mine.’
If he truly recognized it as paracetamol, he would have responded with, ‘hey, this IS mine, and it is paracetamol.’
Jamie Murphy is quite the drongo — he went out, tried to procure drugs (a common endeavor for many Australians while partying in Bali), and ended up ‘duped’ into acquiring headache tablets.
His luck seems to have held out, and his parents describe Jamie as ‘a good lad.’
A glance at his Facebook reveals an abundance of supportive comments like, ‘we know you’re innocent’, ‘you’re not the type of person to do that’, and ‘we’re all thinking of you, we know you’re a good lad’…and so on.
There has been no acknowledgment that this foolish individual likely tried to obtain some
drugs. Murphy’s luck extends beyond just being foolish in trying to buy drugs in Bali — he’s fortunate enough to have failed to acquire real drugs, which is what has kept him out of serious trouble.
While there is a chance he was set up, he should have been aware that such occurrences are possible in Bali — but at only 18 years of age…it’s hard to be too hard on the lad.
Despite what his parents, friends, and virtual acquaintances claim about him being a ‘good lad’ and ‘knowing he was innocent’, the truth remains that Jamie Murphy attempted to purchase drugs.
It is baffling that this hasn’t been addressed yet…not even the possibility that it could have occurred.
Whether he was set up or not remains uncertain, but I personally believe he acted foolishly without any manipulation.
He may very well be a nice person, but the intent to buy drugs was indeed very, very foolish in Bali.
Murphy is a fortunate young man — let’s hope he takes this lesson to heart.
by Sel Hurst
