Aussie surfer detained in Indonesia over alleged drunken rampage touches down in Australia
- Aussie home after alleged rampage
- Indonesia deported Bodhi Risby-Jones
- He made ‘restorative justice’ to family
An Australian tradie who allegedly went on a naked rampage seriously injuring an Indonesian fisherman on a remote island has returned home.
Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones, 23, was deported after being in an Indonesian prison cell since late April after he was accused by police of drunken attacks on multiple people in the deeply conservative Muslim province of Aceh.
He landed in Melbourne on Sunday morning on his way back to the Gold Coast in south east Queensland.
Australian tradie Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones, 23, has been deported from Indonesia over a naked rampage on a remote island
Mr Risby-Jones said he has apologised and paid compensation to the fisherman who sustained serious leg injuries as result of his actions.
That allowed him to avoid going to court and facing a possible charge of assault that could have landed him up to five years in prison.
He spent three nights at an immigration detention centre before he was deported on Saturday.
Risby-Jones gave a smile and a thumbs up for the cameras as he was escorted by immigration through Soekarno-Hatta international airport for his flight home.
‘Of course I’m pretty emotional, so I’m going to feel bad about it,’ Mr Risby-Jones told reporters at the airport.
He said the fisherman’s relatives forgave him and told him that he was a part of their family now.
‘I’m welcome to come back and even stay at their house whenever I want,’ he said.
‘So, that feeling of guilt is definitely much smaller that it was originally.’
He was on a surfing holiday when the incident occurred.
His lawyer Idris Marbawi said the two sides agreed that Mr Risby-Jones would pay the fisherman’s family for hospital fees and a traditional peace ceremony.
The total payment was 300 million rupiah ($20,000).
The fisherman underwent surgery in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, for broken bones and an infection in his legs.
Mr Risby-Jones looks on as an immigration officer signs his transfer documents at the local immigration office in Meulaboh, Aceh
Mr Risby-Jones has vowed to return to Indonesia to do more surfing, according to his lawyer
‘Risby-Jones is the first foreigner to successfully resolve a case through restorative justice in Aceh province,’ Mr Marbawi said.
‘He deeply regretted what happened and vowed to return to Indonesia for surfing.’
Footage of his release on Tuesday showed Mr Risby-Jones being escorted by officers to a bus after hugging and saying goodbye to several prison wardens.
‘It’s been a long time coming and I’m feeling amazing and super happy and grateful,’ he said on Saturday.
‘Everyone has been very nice and accommodated me well. Thank you.’
He also acknowledged the stupidity of his actions.
‘I’m very, very relieved and happy,’ he said.
‘I made a fool of myself and it was shown publicly worldwide.’
