NEWS: News.com.au - 22/08/2005 'Aussie model in Bali drug bust'

Aussie model in Bali drug bust
By Edith Bevin and Cindy Wockner in Bali
August 22, 2005

ONE of Sydney's top models is facing up to 10 years in a Bali jail after police allegedly found ecstasy in her bag.

Michelle Leslie, 24, who has worked for Myer and was the face of Antz Pantz, was among a group of five people picked up in the early hours of Saturday.

Police had raided a party at the GWK park, a large public auditorium on the cliffs near Kuta.

It is understood Leslie, who is based in Sydney, but has family in Adelaide, was allegedly in possession of one or two ecstasy tablets.

Leslie is being held at the Polda police station, where the Bali Nine were held after their arrest.

Like Schapelle Corby, who is appealing against her 20-year sentence for drugs, Leslie faces a lengthy prison spell if convicted.

The maximum sentence for drug possession is 10 years in jail.

Leslie, who models under the name Michelle Lee, lives with boyfriend Scott Sutton in Sylvania.

Her parents, Albert and Violet Leslie, of Glenelg North, Adelaide, were told about their daughter's plight last night by Michelle's friends. The Foreign Affairs Department had not contacted the family.

Leslie had been in Bali with friends on holiday after a stint working in Singapore. She was due to leave Bali today.

Mr Leslie said that his daughter was extremely health conscious.

"She doesn't take drugs, she doesn't take cold tablets or Panadol. She won't even take anything when she's sick," he said.

Mr and Mrs Leslie have spoken to her boyfriend. Leslie had gone to a party with friends and, because she had a large handbag, other people stored their bags in hers.

The drugs were found in a make-up bag, friends told The Daily Telegraph.

Mrs Leslie said she had warned her daughter against travelling to Bali.

"I've been telling her 'don't go to Bali'. I was scared. Not that she was going to do anything stupid but she's a young attractive girl and you don't know what people around her may do," Mrs Leslie said.

Michelle text messaged her mother saying "Don't stress" about Bali. She assured her mother she was always "very careful".

Michelle has worked in several high-profile modelling jobs, including Myer's spring-summer fashion launch in Sydney earlier this month.

She was launched as the face of Antz Pantz underwear late last year.

The arrests were made at a party, called Vertigo Goes to Bali at the lotus pond area of the GWK park, better known as the location for the first anniversary commemoration of the Bali bombing.

Altogether during the raids, police netted 15 ecstasy tablets and arrested five people including four locals aged 26 to 35 years.

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Australian model in Bali drugs bust
August 22, 2005 - 7:47AM

A 24-year-old Australian model has been arrested in Bali after police allegedly found drugs in her possession during a raid on a party.

Michelle Leslie, 24, who models under the name Michelle Lee, was among a group of five people picked up in the early hours of Saturday during a raid on a party at the GWK park, a public auditorium near Kuta, News Limited newspapers say.

She lives with her boyfriend at Sylvania in Sydney's south, and her parents live in Adelaide.

Police would not confirm her identity or say on what allegations she is being held, but said they will announce details at a press conference today.

But the papers say it's understood she was allegedly in possession of one or two ecstasy tablets.

Several locals were also arrested.

Ms Leslie had been on holiday in Bali with friends after working in Singapore, and had been expected to leave Bali today.

The papers say Ms Leslie started full-time modelling at the age of 15 and has worked in a number of high-profile jobs, including Myer's spring-summer fashion launch in Sydney this month. She was named as the face of Antz Pantz underwear late last year.
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She was a contestant on Channel 10's Search for a Supermodel in 2000 and moved to New York in 2003 to advance her career.

The arrests were made at a "Vertigo Goes to Bali" nightclub party at the lotus pond area of the GWK park, the location for the first anniversary commemoration of the Bali bombing.

In the raids, police netted 15 ecstasy tablets and arrested five people, including four locals aged 26 to 35.

Even possession of a small quantity of drugs is enough, under Indonesian law, to earn a lengthy prison term of up to 10 years.

Ms Leslie is being held in police cells at Polda, the Denpasar police headquarters, where alleged heroin smugglers the Bali Nine were held until recently and, before them, convicted Australian smuggler Schapelle Corby.

She is the latest in a list of Australians to fall foul of drugs police in Bali. In addition to Schapelle Corby and the Bali Nine, Adelaide man John Pyle was recently sentenced to five months jail for having a small quantity of hashish in his rented bungalow.

- AAP

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When a mother's worst fears come true
By Stuart McLean
August 22, 2005

THE arrest of Australian model Michelle Leslie is every parent's worst nightmare.

Michelle's mother Violet last night said she was worried about her daughter going to Bali and urged her to be careful.

"I was scared," Violet said from the family home in Adelaide after being told of her daughter's plight.

"I've been telling her 'don't go to Bali'."

Michelle, who also works under the name of Michelle Lee, was among a group of five people picked up early Saturday during a raid on a party at the GWK park, a large public auditorium on the cliffs near Kuta.

Michelle text-messaged her mother saying "don't stress" before going to Bali after a modelling shoot in Singapore.

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The 24-year-old international model is trapped in a horror story that could see her facing up to 10 years in an Indonesian jail.

It is a long way from the bars and nightclubs of New York and cities of Europe to an isolation cell in a Bali police station.

The question millions of Australians will be asking today is why would anyone run the risk of being caught with drugs in their possession after the harsh lessons of the Schapelle Corby case.

Michelle fronted an revitalised advertising campaign for Antz Pantz this year and is instantly recognisable as the national face of Crystelle lingerie.

Working for Chic modelling agency - which last night removed the model's photographs from their website - Michelle has travelled the world with her work.

She was also working to establish her own clothing label, Prize Fighter, and was trying to break into television.

For the past few years she has been based in New York for at least eight months of the year, spending two or three months in Sydney.

When in Sydney she lives in the southern Sydney suburb of Sylvania.

In New York she lives in the West Village.

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chugs said:

huh, she's not hot at all - looks quite plain - Schapelle would shit on her any day of the week in a prison modelling competition.

If i were those parents I would be hiring a very flash indo lawyer to get the ground laid for a bribe. I would put a media black out on the case and threaten (subtly) the indo's that if they go public they won't get shit...

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i mean come on 'chuggy' what do you think, that we are right on this issue? and they are wrong? do you know anything about their culture? if you dont, we (Australians) have quite a different culture to them (Indonesians)... we have different religions and different sociatal norms... and therefore we have different sentencing needs in our courts.

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