Bali drug accused Antony de Malmanche may still face death penalty

Prosecutors want 18 years' jail for Antony de Malmanche. Photo / Getty Images

The death penalty may still be "on the table" for a Kiwi man who is accused of smuggling almost 2kg of methamphetamine into Bali.

Antony de Malmanche, 53, was arrested last December, when 1.7kg of crystal methamphetamine was found in his backpack at the Denpasar International Airport.

Today, de Malmanche's barrister Craig Tuck said a verdict was expected by 5pm today (NZT).

The family and legal team were hoping for an acquittal, as a "strong and lengthy defence case with various experts has played out over the last six months", Mr Tuck said.

Earlier this month it was reported that prosecutors would not be seeking the death penalty, and instead argued de Malmanche should be jailed for 18 years.

However, the death penalty was still "on the table", Mr Tuck said.

"Although the prosecution are now only seeking 18 years, in reality the death penalty is still very much on the table."

The prosecution argued British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford should only get 15 years in prison, but she was sentenced to death in Bali in 2013 after she was convicted of trafficking cocaine worth an estimated $3.2 million, Mr Tuck said.

"We will wait and see the decision and reasoning......then go from there. Hopefully he will be home in Wanganui at weeks end."

Throughout his trial at Denpasar court, the defence has argued de Malmanche had been effectively brainwashed by hours of online chat with someone identifying as 'Jessy Smith', whom he had fallen in love with.

They said the disability pensioner from Whanganui - who had a history of mental illness - was tricked into the Bali journey after developing an online dating relationship with her.

'Jessy' claimed to be a successful businesswoman and paid for his passport to travel to Hong Kong so they could meet.

It was the first time de Malmanche had travelled overseas.

After three days in Hong Kong, Jessy's assistant 'Larry' asked de Malmanche to buy a bus ticket to Guangzhou, where Jessie would meet him in a few days.

De Malmanche met Larry in Guangzhou, and after two days he was told Jessie was having visa problems and would now meet him in Bali.

They returned to Hong Kong, where Larry took him to a market to buy a bag for Jessie, which Larry put into de Malmanche's backpack.

He then flew to Bali, where he was stopped at the airport and detained by Customs for drug smuggling.

De Malmanche's trial began in February.