Prosecutors in Bali this week recommended that court officials find Australian DJ Nick Taylor guilty of being a drug user rather than drugs possession charges and suggested the psy-trance pioneer should spend 5 months in jail.

Nick, who could have been jailed for ten years without remission if found guilty of possession, has already spent two months on remand after being caught with 0.2 grams of cocaine when police raided an after-party he was attending. He appeared in court two weeks ago and revealed he’d been using cocaine for five years to treat stress and early stage symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease.

“The defendant frankly admitted to being a drug user, has never been in prison before, has shown remorse and plans to undergo rehabilitation in an Australian hospital,” prosecuting lawyer Suhadi told a three-judge panel at Denpasar District Court, explaining his (relative) leniency. The court is due to reach its formal verdict next Thursday (September 2). (the Age, Australia).

Nick’s honesty matched that of Brit traveller Geoffrey Whitcombe who shocked court officials in India last week by begging for maximum punishment after being caught smuggling 1.7kg of hash out of Goa in April 2006.

“I am a true Christian, I have committed a crime. I do not wish to waste the time of this court. Punish me according to the law,” Mr Whitcombe, 46, told judges, “This court may acquit me but how will I ever show my face to Jesus Christ?” (Times Of India)

Mr Whitcombe was jailed for ten years, the minimum possible sentence for pot smuggling in India.