Hours after Renae Lawrence touched down in Australia for the first time in more than 13 years, the NSW Police Commissioner has confirmed the convicted drug smuggler would be taken to court over her outstanding arrest warrants in coming days.
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Ms Lawrence, 41, was allegedly involved in a police chase using a stolen car on the Central Coast on March 26, 2005.
Gosford Local Court issued two warrants for her arrest in June that year, although she was already in an Indonesian prison awaiting trial.
On Thursday, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said that, despite believing Ms Lawrence had "paid the price for her sins", the outstanding matters would be resolved via "arrest by appointment" in the coming days.
NSW Police are waiting to charge Ms Lawrence with several offences, including stealing a motor vehicle, driving unlicensed, speeding and failing to comply with police direction related to the 2005 incident.
"I have to be honest with you, I know she’s sinned, and I think she’s paid a fairly heavy price for that," he said.
He said NSW Police would ask her to "come in with her lawyer".
"There are other circumstances where we’d be waiting on the plane and we’d arrest the individual when they got off the plane.
"Others will judge me and think we should have been waiting at the plane for her to pay a price. I think she paid her price for her sins," he said.
"Nevertheless we will still take those two matters to court in terms of the two matters that are still outstanding."
Police claim that, in 2005, one month before the pair were arrested in Indonesia, Ms Lawrence stole a car from Sydney's inner west and drove north with fellow Bali Nine member Matthew Norman.
The pursuit allegedly started in Enfield before the pair travelled through Turramurra, Mooney Mooney and Peats Ridge. The car was later stopped by police.
Ms Lawrence walked free from Indonesia's Bangli prison on Wednesday after her imprisonment for her role in the plan to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin from Indonesia to Australia.
She arrived back on Australian soil on Thursday morning, landing in Brisbane before flying on to her home town of Newcastle.
Ms Lawrence, with her mother Beverley Waterman, were the last passengers to step off the plane at Newcastle Airport after their flight touched down about 11.15am on Thursday.
She walked across the tarmac but, as soon as she reached the terminal building, she began running.
She bolted through the terminal and into a waiting four-wheel-drive. Friends and family waited behind to collect the luggage.
Once inside the four-wheel-drive, she threw a green towel over her head and waited while her family and friends collected her luggage and then joined her. The group then sped off.
