British man sentenced to 10 months in Bali for drug offenses after death penalty charge dropped

DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — A court on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali sentenced a British man to 10 months in jail on Tuesday for drug offenses after a charge that could carry the death penalty was dropped.

Thomas Parker, from Cumbria in northwest England, was arrested Jan. 21 at a villa near Kuta beach, a popular tourist spot, after he allegedly collected a package containing drugs from a motorcycle taxi driver on a nearby street.

Police officers said Parker was “acting suspiciously” while he collected the package, according to the court document. He allegedly discarded it in a panic and fled when police approached him. He was traced back to the villa where he was staying and arrested.

A lab test confirmed the package contained slightly over a kilogram (2.326 pounds) of MDMA, the main ingredient in ecstasy, the document said.

During the police investigation, the 32-year-old electrician was able to prove that he did not order the package. It was sent by a drug dealer friend, identified only as Nicky, whom Parker had known for around two years and spoke to regularly through the Telegram messaging app.

Parker was told someone would pick it up shortly from him, and he was not promised money or anything else by Nicky in return.

Police reduced the initial charge of drug trafficking, which carries a possible death sentence, to the less serious offense of hiding information from authorities after investigators determined that the package was not directly linked to him.

During the trial, which began last month at the Denpasar District Court, Parker told the court he initially refused to collect the package but agreed to do it after Nicky assured him the package was safe and would not put him in danger.

Prosecutors on May 6 sought a one-year prison term for Parker, but the judges said they reduced the penalty because Parker regretted his acts, had not been previously convicted and promised to reform.

Parker sat silently as a panel of three judges at Denpasar District Court handed down the punishment. The judges also ordered the time he has already served since he was arrested to be deducted from his sentence, meaning he will be free in several months.

After the judges read the sentence, Parker said that he accepted the verdict and will not appeal. Prosecutors must decide whether to accept it within a week.

“I really, really regret everything that has happened,” Parker said. “I am sorry and will follow the judge's decision.”

Indonesia has very strict drug laws and convicted traffickers can be executed by a firing squad.

About 530 people are on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, including 96 foreigners, Ministry of Immigration and Corrections’ data showed. Indonesia’s last executions, of an Indonesian and three foreigners, were carried out in July 2016.

Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

British citizen Thomas Parker, left, walks to a holding cell after he is sentenced for drug offenses, in Denpasar in Bali, Indonesia, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

British citizen Thomas Parker sits on the defendant's chair before sentenced for drug offenses, at a district court in Denpasar in Bali, Indonesia on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

British citizen Thomas Parker walks towards a district court before he is sentenced for drug offenses, in Denpasar in Bali, Indonesia, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

British citizen Thomas Parker sits on the defendant's chair before being sentenced for drug offenses, in Denpasar in Bali, Indonesia, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

British citizen Thomas Parker, sentenced later for drug offenses, sits on the defendant's chair before the start of his verdict trial at a district court in Denpasar in Bali, Indonesia, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bob Weir, guitarist, singer and founding member of the Grateful Dead, has died at age 78.

Weir's death was announced Saturday in a statement on his Instagram page.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir,” the statement said. “He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”

Weir joined the Grateful Dead — originally the Warlocks — in 1965 in San Francisco at just 17 years old. He'd spend the next 30 years playing on endless tours with the Grateful Dead alongside fellow singer and guitarist Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995.

Weir wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Dead classics including “Sugar Magnolia,” “One More Saturday Night” and “Mexicali Blues.”

In the decades since he kept playing with other projects including Dead and Company.

“For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road,” the Instagram statement said. A guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead. Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music.”

Weir’s death leaves drummer Bill Kreutzmann as the only surviving original member. Founding bassist Phil Lesh died in 2024.

Dead and Company played a series of concert’s for the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary in July at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

Born in San Francisco and raised in nearby Atherton, Weir was the Dead's youngest member and looked like a fresh-faced high-schooler in its early years. He was generally less shaggy than the rest of the band, but had a long beard like Garcia’s in later years.

The band would survive long past the hippie moment of its birth, with its fans known as Deadheads often following them on the road in a virtually non-stop tour.

“Longevity was never a major concern of ours,” Weir said when the Dead got the Grammys' Musicares Person of the Year honor last year. “Spreading joy through the music was all we ever really had in mind and we got plenty of that done.”

FILE - Bob Weir plays guitar with his band The Dead, formerly the Grateful Dead, at the Forum in the Inglewood section of Los Angeles, Calif. on Saturday May 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel,File)

FILE - This undated file photo shows members of the Grateful Dead band, from left to right, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, Jerry Garcia, Brent Mydland, Bill Kreutzmann, and Bob Weir. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - Kennedy Center Honors recipients from left; filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, the legendary American rock band the Grateful Dead band members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann Bob Weir and blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Bonnie Raitt, applaud at at the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors reception in the East Room of the White House, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta,File)

FILE - Bob Weir arrives at Willie Nelson 90, celebrating the singer's 90th birthday on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. (Photo by Allison Dinner/Invision/AP,File)

FILE - Bob Weir of Dead & Company performs at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on Sunday, June 12, 2016, in Manchester, Tenn. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP,File)