NEW LINE IN WA ADDICT'S HEROIN TRIAL

A RADICAL plan under which Perth drug addict Holly Deane-Johns could be
freed was put to a Bangkok court when she appeared on heroin charges last
Friday.

Brian Haffenden suggested to the court that 29-year-old Ms Deane-Johns
should be treated for addiction in Thamkrabok Monastery, north of Bangkok,
and returned to Australia after six months.

Mr Haffenden, 66, of Riverton, is the founder of the Perth-based Thamkrabok
Foundation which arranges treatment for drug addicts in the Thai
monastery.He said the court demanded the request for treatment in writing
and had indicated that only the director of Thailand's Justice Ministry
could decide.

"It's up to Holly's father," Mr Haffenden said, saying that her surviving
parent, Damian Deane-Johns, had not submitted a written request for clemency.

He made his proposal to the court when Ms Deane-Johns' trial failed to
start because prosecution police witnesses did not attend.

Mr Haffenden said he flew to Thailand on a fact-finding mission after Ms
Deane-Johns' father had asked him to intervene. He discussed the treatment
proposal with Ms Deane-Johns before returning to Perth.

"She thought it was great," he said.

Mr Haffenden submitted a six-page proposal on Ms Deane-Johns' behalf during
her last court appearance with co-accused Robert Halliwell from New South
Wales.

It said prison life could destroy her, including possible continued drug
abuse, schooling in criminality and falling prey to perverted sexual urges.

Ms Deane-Johns' had been addicted since 15 and had been encouraged by her
mother, also an addict, who had died of an overdose, it said.

"Even today, as she faces this court, the addiction, the sickness resides
in her body," Mr Haffenden said in the document.

The plan was for Ms Deane-Johns to plead guilty to possessing heroin and
attempting to post 15g of the drug to Australia, mitigated by diminished
responsibility owing to addiction.

She would then be transferred to Thamkrabok Monastery in Saraburi Province,
130km north of Bangkok, to undergo a herbal medicine treatment for
addiction, remaining a prisoner.

All costs would be borne by her family and she would be returned to
Australia after six months.

Asked if he was aware that Ms Deane-Johns had served five years in Bandyup
Prison on drug-related matters, Mr Haffenden replied: "She was punished -
not treated."

Mr Haffenden intends to be in Bangkok for the resumed court case on March 20.