Bali Nine member back in court days after returning to Australia as a free man for the first time in almost two decades

Bali Nine drug smuggler Scott Rush has learned his fate in connection with a series of crimes committed two decades ago, just days after he was released from a lengthy spell in an Indonesian prison and returned home.

Supported by his parents Lee and Christine, Rush appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday to face historic charges that occurred prior to his 2005 arrest at Bali airport.

The now 39-year-old pleaded guilty to charges of fraud, receiving tainted property and trespassing, all committed when he was 19. Courier mail reported.

Realizing he would eventually have to face the music for the crimes committed in Australia, Rush handed himself in to Queensland police on Monday morning.

Magistrate Patricia Kirkman-Scroope initially questioned why a man who was 20 years old was appearing before a court dealing with night-time arrests.

“I thought the name was familiar, but I didn’t make the connection,” she noted.

The court heard Rush wanted to put his past behind him and make a valuable contribution to society.

His lawyer Terry Fisher added that his client received intensive counseling and self-improvement courses during his 19-year prison stint in Indonesia.

‘Over a period of twenty years you will clearly have enough time for that. He has insight and remorse for his previous behavior and what he is now committed to is his reintegration into Australian society,” Fisher told the court.

Rush pleaded guilty to seven thefts from Brisbane homes, where he stole cash, a hearing aid, a Nintendo GameBoy, Nokia mobile phones and jewelery in March 2005.

He also pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a Toyota sedan that month, to twice defrauding Cash Converters in late 2004, to receiving stolen property and failing to appear in court in April 2005.

The court heard Rush committed most of the crimes while he had been given suspended sentences ranging from one month to two months in prison in January 2005.

He was a drug addict at the time, which months later led to him being arrested in Bali and spending almost 20 years in prison, the court heard.

Scott Rush is pictured in a cell at Bali Police Station on April 21, 2005

Mr Fisher also told how Lee Rush’s attempt to help his drug-addicted son inadvertently led to him being jailed in Indonesia and given the death penalty.

Mr Rush told Australian Federal Police he was suspicious of what his son was doing, and police promised to tell the then-teenager he was under surveillance to prevent him becoming involved.

“What happened was they didn’t. And before he left for Indonesia, the AFP tipped off the Indonesian authorities that the Australians were there knowing it was a death penalty,” Mr Fisher explained.

Mr Fisher asked the court whether Rush could be convicted but not sentenced, noting the 20 years he had already spent in prison.

Police prosecutor Matthew Bach agreed with the submission and Ms Kirkman-Scroope convicted Rush of 13 offenses but did not punish him further.

The term of his suspended sentences from 2005 was extended by two months.

“Okay, thank you Mr. Rush, good luck in your future endeavors,” the magistrate said.

“Thank you, Reverend,” Rush replied.

Two weeks after returning home to Australia, after twenty years in an Indonesian prison, drug smuggler Scott Rush (middle of the photo, briefly in green) appeared in court in Brisbane on Monday.

Outside court, Mr Rush expressed relief that his son was home.

Rush said nothing, but gave the reporter a thumbs up.

He was one of five remaining Bali Nine prisoners transferred to Australia earlier this month after the federal government made a deal Indonesia.

In addition to Rush, Matthew Norman, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen and Michael Czugaj flew back to Australia on a commercial flight in a top-secret mission after weeks of negotiations between the two nations.

The development came after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese requested the transfer during a meeting with new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at the APEC summit in November.

Mr Subianto agreed to release the prisoners on humanitarian grounds.

Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, another of the Bali Nine drug mules who had jointly tried to smuggle 8.7kg of heroin, died behind bars in 2018 from stomach cancer.

Chan and Sukumaran were executed in 2015, while Renae Lawrence was released after thirteen years.