Cocaine-accused editor wants to bargain

A British magazine editor involved in a high-society cocaine ring in Singapore has offered to bargain with prosecutors in exchange for a lighter sentence.

Nigel Simmonds, 40, the former editor of Singapore Tatler and Expat magazines, has not formally entered a plea to five counts of possession and consumption of illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia. He faces 10 years in jail if convicted.

But Simmonds has admitted the charges and was hoping to strike a deal with prosecutors, with whom he would meet next week, according to his lawyer Shashi Nathan. He declined to give details.

Simmonds “is co-operating fully with the police and we are quite confident that the situation will come to an amicable resolution”, Nathan added.

Simmonds appeared briefly in a district court today for a procedural hearing. He was ordered to return to court on November 24.

The editor was one of six foreigners and eight Singaporeans arrested in October in a high-profile bust that involved businessmen, celebrities and expatriates.

Three of the suspects – Singaporeans Marx Oh, Mariana Abdullah and Tunisian Guiga Lyes Ben Laroussi – are facing execution for drug trafficking.

Others charged with either possession or consumption include award-winning French chef Francois Fabien Mermilliod, British financial broker Andrew William Veale and Sri Lankan artist Jeremy Mahen Chanmugam.

The other suspects are due to make separate appearances in court in the coming weeks.

Singapore has some of the world’s strictest – and most thoroughly enforced - drug laws, including a mandatory death penalty by hanging for anyone caught with more than 15 grammes of heroin or more than 500 grammes of marijuana.