The schoolies party-goer arrested in Bali on suspicion of posessing drugs has been let free after tests on the powder he was found with came back negative.
Teenager Jamie Murphy flew back to Australia with his parents on Thursday a free man after being released from the Bali jail where he had been held after being arrested earlier in the week at a Kuta nightclub.
Kuta police chief Wayan Sumara said the powder in the plastic baggie allegedly discovered in Murphy’s bumbag was “medicine, not drugs”.
“He doesn’t know is this drug or not but according to the man who give in the street ‘you can try this medicine, is better for your life,’” Mr Sumara told a reporter in Bali when asked if Murphy was aware of what the powder, which police allege he bought on the street, actually was. It is understood the powder was likely crushed up paracetamol.
Police Chief Sumara said the Perth school leaver was “very lucky”.
In a statement, the Denpasar nightclub at which Murphy was arrested, Sky Garden, offered: “a sincere apology to Jamie, his family and friends.”
Addressing the apparent rough handling Murphy received at the hands of the security guards who searched him in front of police, the club said: “We have reprimanded the security in question and he will not be permitted to come back to work until he has completed and passed another round of police security training.”
The Sky Garden club heavily promotes themselves as a major schoolies week venue for revellers who come to Bali for the annual celebrations.