March 24, 2004 - 4:35PM

Two Australian women sentenced to life in jail for heroin smuggling were allowed to leave a Thai prison today in preparation for their transfer home.

They will complete their sentences in Australia, officials said.

Jane McKenzie and Deborah Spinner were arrested at Bangkok airport in 1996 for carrying 10 condoms filled with heroin.

Another Australian arrested with them, Lyle Doniger, was pardoned.

The two women, now in their 30s, were jailed and had faced the prospect of spending the rest of their lives in a Thai prison.

But agreement was reached to let them return home, making them the first Australians allowed by Thailand to serve out their sentences in their home country.

Under the terms of a treaty signed in 1997 between Australia and the Thai government, the women will have to stay in jail for at least five years before they can apply for parole.

The two were today taken from Lad Yao Women's Prison, north of Bangkok, to Bangkok's Immigration Jail in preparation for their departure.

A Thai Corrections Department official said McKenzie and Spinner signed documents confirming their transfer, meaning they must leave within 24 hours.

The official said they were scheduled to fly home on a Qantas flight from Bangkok at 5.40pm (2140 AEDT) local time.

DPA

24mar04

TWO Australian women sentenced to 50 years imprisonment for drug trafficking were released from a Thai jail and departed for home Wednesday under a prisoner exchange program, officials said.

The Australian embassy said Jane McKenzie, 38, and Deborah Spinner, 36, completed immigration procedures in Bangkok and took an overnight flight to Sydney.

"They're both happy and their families are looking forward to them coming home," an embassy spokesman told AFP. "They seem to be in good health."

The pair were sentenced in 1997 after being caught trying to smuggle 115 grams of heroin to Australia from Bangkok.

Convicted with them was Sydney man Lyle Doniger, who was freed two years ago following a pardon from the Thai king. The women missed out because their paperwork was not filed correctly.

After serving seven years in Bangkok's Klong Prem women's prison, McKenzie and Spinner will serve another five years of their original sentence before being eligible for parole.

The women, who are being escorted from Thailand by four prison officers and a number of flight marshals, are expected to be taken to Sydney's maximum security Mulawa women's prison, an Australian corrective services department spokesman said.

Both have said the most difficult part of their sentences has been the separation from their children.

McKenzie and Spinner had faced the death penalty for heroin trafficking but their sentences were commuted to 50 years' jail after they pleaded guilty.

Spinner, speaking last month, said she had not been able to sleep some nights because she longed to see her two children, whom she had not seen for eight years.

However when the transfer was approved last month, McKenzie feared moving to an Australian prison may cost her a chance of an earlier release through a Thai royal pardon.

CORRECTION - the following article states that the quantity of drugs Jane & Debra were arrested with was 115 grams, this information in incorrect. Lyle Doniger had 34.9 grams, Jane had 58.2 grams, and Debbie had 22.3 grams, so the girls had 58.2 plus 22.3 between them and this does not add up to 115 grams. The article has incorectly included the quantity of drugs that Lyle Doniger (Since pardoned) was arrested with.

March 25, 2004

TWO Australian women jailed in Thailand for heroin smuggling flew into Sydney this morning under a prison transfer scheme.

Jane Dawson McKenzie, 38, and Deborah Letitia Spinner, 36, were sentenced to 50 years in a Thai prison in 1997 after being caught trying to smuggle 115 grams of heroin to Australia from Bangkok.

The women arrived at Sydney Airport on the 6.25am (AEDT) Qantas flight from Bangkok via London.

A Corrective Services spokesman said both women would complete normal immigration and customs procedures in a secure location at the airport before being transferred to Mullawa women's prison.

The women were escorted from Thailand by four prison officers and a number of flight marshals.

McKenzie and Spinner will serve five years in the Sydney jail before being eligible for parole, after having spent seven years in Bangkok's notorious Klong Prem women's prison.

When convicted in 1997, the women faced the death penalty but their sentences were commuted to 50 years' jail when they pleaded guilty.

Both have said the most difficult part of their jail terms had been the separation from their children.

Just last month, Spinner said she had not been able to sleep some nights because she longed to see her two children, whom she had not seen for eight years.

The women were caught with Sydney man Lyle Doniger at Bangkok Airport in March 1996, trying to board a flight to Sydney with heroin filled condoms in their bodies.

Doniger was freed two years ago after being pardoned by the Thai king.

The women's return to Australia, announced a fortnight ago by NSW Justice Minister John Hatzistergos, came under a new international prisoner transfer scheme.

By Mark Baker in Bangkok March 25, 2004

Australians Jane McKenzie and Deborah Spinner are due home this morning for a joyous reunion with the children they left behind eight years ago on an ill- fated drug run to Thailand.

The women boarded a Qantas flight to Sydney yesterday with an escort of four NSW correctional services staff after a tearful farewell ceremony with other inmates at Klong Prem Prison, the infamous "Bangkok Hilton".

Under a prisoner exchange treaty between Australia and Thailand, they will continue their sentences at Sydney's Silverwater Detention Centre, but they hope they will be freed later this year under a pardon from the Thai king.

Australian officials said arrangements were being made for an early contact visit with their families.

"I have four very beautiful children to go home to and that has been my main inspiration through all these years," McKenzie, 38, told the Herald during a recent interview at Klong Prem. "That made me keep fighting even when I felt everything was hopeless. I knew I had to make it to get home to see my children again."

McKenzie and 36-year-old Spinner, who has two children, have not seen their families since they were arrested at Bangkok Airport in March 1996.

The two, who were heroin addicts, were preparing to fly back to Australia with heroin-filled condoms hidden in their bodies. A third, Lyle Doniger, was granted a pardon two years ago.