Aussie naked rampage tradie Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones returns to Australia from Indonesia
Aussie surfer detained in Indonesia for alleged drunken rampage lands in Australia
- Aussie home after alleged calamity
- Indonesia deported Bodhi Risby-Jones
- He made “restorative justice” to family
An Australian tradie who allegedly went naked and seriously injured an Indonesian fisherman on a remote island has returned home.
Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones, 23, was deported after being held in an Indonesian prison cell since late April after being charged by police with drunken assaults on several people in the highly conservative Muslim province of Aceh.
He landed in Melbourne on Sunday morning on his way back to the Gold Coast in south-east Queensland.
Australian tradie Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones, 23, has been deported from Indonesia over a naked rampage on a remote island
Mr Risby-Jones said he has apologized and paid compensation to the fisherman who suffered serious leg injuries as a result of his actions.
That enabled him to go to court and face a potential assault charge that could have landed him up to five years in prison.
He spent three nights in an immigrant detention center before being deported on Saturday.
Risby-Jones smiled and gave a thumbs up for the cameras as he was escorted by immigration through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport for his flight home.
“Of course I’m quite emotional so I’m going to feel bad about it,” Mr Risby-Jones told reporters at the airport.
He said the fisherman’s family forgave him and told him he was part of their family now.
“I’m welcome to come back and even stay in their house whenever I want,” he said.
“So that guilt is definitely much smaller than it originally was.”
He was on a surfing holiday when the incident happened.
His lawyer Idris Marbawi said the two sides agreed that Risby-Jones would pay the fisherman’s family for hospital expenses and a traditional peace ceremony.
The total payment was 300 million rupiah ($20,000).
The fisherman underwent surgery for broken bones and an infection in his legs in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.
Mr. Risby-Jones watches as an immigration officer signs his transfer papers at the local immigration office in Meulaboh, Aceh
According to his lawyer, Risby-Jones has vowed to return to Indonesia to surf more
“Risby-Jones is the first foreigner to successfully resolve a case through restorative justice in Aceh province,” Marbawi said.
“He deeply regretted what had happened and vowed to return to Indonesia to surf.”
Footage from his release on Tuesday showed Mr Risby-Jones being escorted to a bus by officers after hugging and saying hello to several prison officers.
“It’s been a long time and I feel great and super happy and thankful,” he said on Saturday.
“Everyone has been very nice and treated me well. Thank you.’
He also acknowledged the stupidity of his actions.
“I am very, very relieved and happy,” he said.
“I’ve made a fool of myself and it’s been put on public display worldwide.”