Grim development for Aussie woman Vanessa Crimmins accused of stealing backpacks and laptops in Bali after CCTV footage was released
EXCLUSIVE
An Australian teacher accused of stealing backpacks containing laptops has been transferred to the island’s notorious Kerobokan prison.
Vanessa Louise Crimmins, 45, is accused of stealing two backpacks outside Popular Deli, a supermarket in North Kuta on October 30.
The head of the Bali Public Prosecution Service’s intelligence department, Gde Ancana, confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that Crimmins had been transferred from police detention to Kerobokan Women’s Prison.
Photos showed an emotionless Crimmins in an orange jail shirt watching as paperwork was filled out by officials Monday afternoon.
She was then transported to Kerobokan, which previously housed members of the Bali Nine drug smuggling ring and compatriot Schapelle Corby.
“Police have handed over the file and all evidence relating to the case of Australian woman Vanessa Louise Crimmins,” Ancana said.
“Now that the police have completed the case, prosecutors must transfer her from police detention to prison.”
Ms Crimmins will remain in Kerobokan during her pre-trial hearings, which will take place at the prosecutor’s office in Denpasar.
Vanessa Louise Crimmins (in orange) is pictured as Indonesian police and legal officials fill out paperwork before she was transferred from police detention to Kerobokan Prison
Australian teacher, 45, is accused of stealing two backpacks containing laptops from outside a North Kuta supermarket
“After this, we will file the charges and transfer the case to the Denpasar District Court,” Mr Ancana said.
‘Hopefully the trial can start as early as January.’
Crimmins will be charged with theft under Article 362(1) of the Criminal Code.
If found guilty, she could face up to five years in prison.
CCTV footage from the morning of October 30 allegedly showed Crimmins taking two bags from the seating area of the Popular Deli supermarket.
At the time of the arrest, Crimmins was staying at an address in North Kuta.
However, it remains unclear whether she was living in Bali at the time or holidaying on the island.
After her arrest, Badung Police spokesperson Putu Sukarma claimed that the victims left their bags in the seating area of the Popular Deli at 7.30am.
CCTV footage from outside the supermarket appeared to show Vanessa Crimmins picking up two backpacks
Kerobokan prison previously housed members of the Bali Nine, an Australian drug smuggling gang
When they returned 90 minutes later, both bags were gone.
‘The suspect did that [allegedly] I took out two laptops from two bags that had been kept in the seating area by the owner for a while,” said Mr Sukarma.
The HP laptop and MacBook Air were allegedly stolen from Ardi Nurcahyadi, 42, from Jakarta and Denpasar university student Ni Nyoman Ari Purwaningsih, 24.
However, Crimmins could walk free due to a unique quirk in the Indonesian legal system if the alleged victims choose to forgive her.
Kerobokan Prison, also known as Hotel K, has a long and checkered history of riots and other violence involving prisoners and guards.
The prison infamously held some remaining members of the Bali Nine drug smuggling ring before their recent release.
Si Yi Chen and Matthew Norman served their sentences in Kerobokan before returning to Australia earlier this month.
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the two Bali Nine leaders executed in 2015, spent their sentences on Kerobokan’s death row.
It is also where compatriot Schapelle Corby served most of her nine-year prison sentence after attempting to smuggle 4.1kg of marijuana in her bodyboard bag through Denpasar airport.