Beatle hops into roo-cull debate

Search for more stories on this topic on Newstext, our news archive service. Click here

Video

The Pope`s Aussie neighbours

NEWS.com.au takes a sneak peek at Pope Benedict`s Kenthurst residence and meets locals.

Latest videos

Tools

ABC foreign correspondent Peter Lloyd, who is charged with drug-trafficking in Singapore, has been moved from a local hospital to a prison medical facility.

Lloyd, 41, was discharged from Changi General Hospital yesterday, a hospital spokesperson said today.

Prison service spokespeople said Lloyd was in the medical facility at Changi Prison.

Lloyd, the South Asia correspondent for the ABC, is charged with trafficking about 1g of methamphetamine to a Singaporean for $S100 ($75) at a hotel early this month.

He also faces a second charge for allegedly being in possession of about 1g of the stimulant methamphetamine, or "ice", at a local hospital.

A district judge and a police prosecutor were at Changi General Hospital yesterday afternoon to lay the charges, The Straits Times reported today.

A Central Narcotics Bureau spokeswoman said Lloyd had been offered bail and his case would be heard in court next Friday.

If convicted of the trafficking charge, Lloyd faces between five and 20 years` imprisonment and five to 15 strokes of the cane.

An earlier Central Narcotics Bureau statement said investigations showed a 41-year-old Australian was the "supplier" to a Singaporean drug abuser arrested on Wednesday.

It did not name the Australian but said he was under investigation for trafficking a controlled drug.

The Australian was arrested and in the course of follow-up search, the officers recovered a packet of ice weighing about 0.8g, one improvised smoking pipe and six syringes, the statement said.

The ABC said it had sent a lawyer to Singapore to represent Lloyd and was in close contact with consular officials in Singapore.

Lloyd`s estranged wife Kirsty McIvor yesterday declined to comment, saying she was too upset.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith will be in Singapore next week for ASEAN talks and will discuss Lloyd`s case with the Australian high commissioner.

The ABC`s new breakfast program has been thrown into turmoil by the arrest of its planned frontman.

Lloyd was due to launch and co-host the new four hour news Breakfast TV program on ABC2 with Virginia Trioli in September.

Plans for the show`s yet-to-be-revealed launch were up in the air last night.

Lloyd was appointed ABC correspondent in New Delhi in 2006 and reports for ABC TV and radio.

He had spent the previous four years in Bangkok and extensively covered the Schapelle Corby and Bali Nine drug cases.

He also covered the case of Australian Nguyen Tuong Van, executed by Singapore in 2005 for heroin trafficking.

Share this article

Search for more stories on this topic on Newstext, our news archive service. Click here