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Singapore/Denpasar: An Australian man is facing more than two years in prison if he is convicted of accused of assaulting his Indonesian girlfriend in Bali and allegedly resisting detention by police, who found a cache of air guns and knives in his hotel room.
Drew Donal Ireland, 28, was paraded by police in Denpasar on Tuesday, two days after being arrested over an incident at the Kadin Inn in Kuta in which he is alleged to have pushed the 33-year-old complainant to the ground and punched her in the head.
Drew Donal Ireland is led into a press conference in Bali on Tuesday.Credit: Amilia Rosa
According to investigators, he was captured 500 metres away after fleeing the scene and then caused damage to the police station after violently contesting being detained.
Police allege Ireland had been intoxicated and lashed out at the woman – and threatened her with death – after demanding she repay 1.5 million rupiah ($150) he claimed she owed him.
After arriving in Bali in April, he had allegedly told the woman that he was an Australian special forces soldier there to train Indonesian military snipers. However, police inquiries found he was not in the Australian Defence Force at all.
Police discovered three long-barrelled air rifles and two air rifle pistols, as well as two knives and two iron sticks, in Ireland’s hotel room, but were unable to say why he had them in his possession as he has refused to be interrogated without officials from the Australian consulate-general in Bali being present.
“He claimed to be a member of the Australian special forces, that he is here training an Indonesian sniper team,” Denpasar police chief Bambang Yugo Pamungkas alleged.
“He met the victim five weeks ago on Tinder. Their status is that they are in a relationship. When we checked with the [Australian] consulate the information we were given is that he is a technician, in the private sector. He presented himself like he is in the special forces but he wasn’t. We still don’t know why he has all these weapons.”
The woman was left with bruises and a cut on her forehead from the alleged assault and Ireland has been charged under Article 351 of the Indonesian Criminal Code, which relates to maltreatment and carries a maximum penalty of two years and eight months jail.
Police said it was not illegal to own the air guns, but they were yet to establish why he had them.
Ireland is also accused of stealing clothes, a flashlight and cigarettes from stores in Bali, for which he could face three months behind bars if charged and found guilty.
Kuta police chief Yogie Pramagita said the woman told officers that Ireland had taken drugs as well as being under the influence of alcohol. Tramadol, a painkiller, was found in his room, police said.
“He was drunk, so when we tried to detain him at the police station he refused and some of the police [chairs and table were damaged]. No officers were hurt,” Pramagita said.
“He has been refusing to be interrogated. He insisted on having someone from the consulate to be here first.”
The man’s Australian visa was due to expire on June 11, according to an Indonesian immigration official.
Separately, authorities in Jakarta and Bali are cracking down against misbehaviour and breaches of cultural norms by tourists, floating the introduction of a possible tourist tax and a quota on international arrivals and producing a do’s and don’ts list to be handed to foreigners when they land there.
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