Malaysia releases British tourist after 3 days of punishment

Kuala Lumpur

The British tourist Eleanor Hawkins and three others is being released from custody in Malaysia after pleading guilty for committing obscene acts in public when she and nine others stripped on Mount Kinabalu.

A judge at a court in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah state, sentenced Hawkins and three others namely Canadian siblings namely Lindsey and Danielle Petersen and Dutch national Dylan Snel to three days in jail from the time of arrest, June 9, which means they have already served their time.

They were also fined 5,000 Malaysian ringgit (£860) each and will be deported on Friday night. Hawkins burst out in tears when it was told that she was free to go after paying the fine.

The judge, Dean Wayne Daly, said, “This court accepted the plea of guilty as mitigation.” He also added that though Hawkins was arrested at an airport there was nothing to show Eleanor was absconding the law.

Defence lawyer of Hawkins’s, Ronny Cham, said, “This is a happy ending to the whole episode,” and said that he expectes all four tourists to be deported after they had paid the fines.

Arriving handcuffed at court, the four defendants had to battle through a throng of reporters to enter the building. They pleaded guilty to committing obscene acts in a public place and agreed to apologise to the Malaysian people as the mountain was sacred to them.

The lawyer for the four pleaded before the court that they were ignorant of local laws. Therfore, they were sorry for what they had done and requested him to repeal the maximum sentence of three months which the judge had decided to impose on the tourists.

Diplomats from the UK, the Netherlands and Canada were in court for the hearing. The Foreign Office refused spokesman said: “We remain in contact with Ms Hawkins and her family following this morning’s court appearance, and will continue to provide consular assistance.”

Officials and tribal elders suggested the disrespectful act was linked to an earthquake that killed 18 people days later.

Eleanor’s father, Tim, expressed relief at the verdict but said he was anxious to get his daughter safely back to the UK. Speaking by phone from his engineering business in Derby, he said: “We are relieved, but we don’t want to say too much because we want to protect Ellie. As far as we know she is currently under the protection of the consulate.”

He said he had not managed to speak to his daughter since the verdict. “We are waiting for the consular official to get her somewhere safe. We need to talk to the FCO about travel arrangements. As far as I’ve seen, it is immediate deportation.

“We really do want her home, but we’ve got no idea what is going to happen and when.”

Hawkins praised the diplomats in Malaysia. “They have done a fabulous job, they’ve been really helpful, really useful. And our local MP Maggie Throup has been very good as well.”