Read Online Bali 9: The Untold Story by Madonna King, Cindy Wockner - Free Book Online
Authors: Madonna King, Cindy Wockner
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gullible enough to get roped into it”,’ one former classmate explains. And it’s not said in a judgmental way—just as a statement of fact. Out of all of them, Martin Stephens could have been lured into it.
Of course, everyone sees others through slightly different glasses, and Stephens’s parents should know him best. Michele says she never heard him called Vegie;that nickname had belonged to his brother. And she is aghast at claims her boy was the kind of bland person who blended into the background or who took a back seat in life. That’s not her experience or memory of Martin as a little boy, at school or even now. Michele remembers Martin with a big group of friends, many of them not from his own school, but from other schools—which might explain the differences in how people characterise the young man now sitting in a Bali jail.
‘Martin was always a fun, outgoing guy, he never blended into the background,’ says Michele. ‘I don’t ever remember Martin being quiet; he certainly wasn’t shy in coming forward. He has never been backstage, he has always had plenty of friends. He wasn’t like an in-your-face sort of person. If you saw Martin in a group you would remember him. He would be funny, he might be slightly cheeky.’
Michele says her son would readily take centre stage on the dance floor where he was somewhat of a whiz, with girls lining up for the next dance. But she agrees with assessments that her son was a bit on the naive side.
‘He has always been naive, everyone has always been his best friend. He always believed the best about somebody. He was willing to believe the best of people.’
After Martin’s friends saw his face on the television after his arrest they were on the phone to the Stephens home in shock and disbelief. They wanted someone to tell them it was all a mistake. Drugs were just not Martin’s thing.
Martin Stephens was born in Wollongong on 13 April 1976, to Bill and Michele, and his home remained at Towradgi, the small beachside suburb 5 kilometres north of the Wollongong CBD. His childhood was busy and his parents were supportive; sport took centre stage. Martin was a Towradgi Turtle junior lifesaver (from under-sixes to under-twelves, where his mother was president for about five years) and a Corrimal Cougar footballer (from under-sevens to under-elevens), and he would put up his hand for the chance to have a go at most sports. He also tried his hand at ballroom dancing, proving to be talented at that too, winning medals for both the cha-cha and the jive.
Martin played up like most teenagers, but his parents never worried about the path he would take in the long term. When he returned to Wollongong in 2004 after working for a catering company in Adelaide, they were thrilled to have him home again. He’d been gone for a couple of years, since 2002, and even brought home a steady girlfriend whom he planned to marry.
He’d started off working in a carpentry place in Unanderra making furniture, but he was to soon learn that hospitality, working in bars and clubs, was his true vocation—he loved it. He felt he had a knack with people and loved going to work at the various hospitality jobs he had over the years. ‘I could spill a drink on someone and have them thinking happy thoughts when I left. To me, it’s not a job,’ Martin says now. He loved thefact that while working, doing things like cleaning the ashtrays in bars, he got to mingle with patrons and meet new people, chat and joke around. He couldn’t ask for more in a job, he thought. He was good at doing the cocktail tricks too.
Stephens did a hospitality course and got the chance to work at the Royal Easter Show and the 2000 Olympics at Homebush in Sydney, as well as at a couple of other bars in Sydney. Hospitality gave him the chance to work in different places and travel. He went to Queensland for a while, to Adelaide and to Uluru.
It was in Adelaide that he first started working for Eurest, the
Of course, everyone sees others through slightly different glasses, and Stephens’s parents should know him best. Michele says she never heard him called Vegie;that nickname had belonged to his brother. And she is aghast at claims her boy was the kind of bland person who blended into the background or who took a back seat in life. That’s not her experience or memory of Martin as a little boy, at school or even now. Michele remembers Martin with a big group of friends, many of them not from his own school, but from other schools—which might explain the differences in how people characterise the young man now sitting in a Bali jail.
‘Martin was always a fun, outgoing guy, he never blended into the background,’ says Michele. ‘I don’t ever remember Martin being quiet; he certainly wasn’t shy in coming forward. He has never been backstage, he has always had plenty of friends. He wasn’t like an in-your-face sort of person. If you saw Martin in a group you would remember him. He would be funny, he might be slightly cheeky.’
Michele says her son would readily take centre stage on the dance floor where he was somewhat of a whiz, with girls lining up for the next dance. But she agrees with assessments that her son was a bit on the naive side.
‘He has always been naive, everyone has always been his best friend. He always believed the best about somebody. He was willing to believe the best of people.’
After Martin’s friends saw his face on the television after his arrest they were on the phone to the Stephens home in shock and disbelief. They wanted someone to tell them it was all a mistake. Drugs were just not Martin’s thing.
Martin Stephens was born in Wollongong on 13 April 1976, to Bill and Michele, and his home remained at Towradgi, the small beachside suburb 5 kilometres north of the Wollongong CBD. His childhood was busy and his parents were supportive; sport took centre stage. Martin was a Towradgi Turtle junior lifesaver (from under-sixes to under-twelves, where his mother was president for about five years) and a Corrimal Cougar footballer (from under-sevens to under-elevens), and he would put up his hand for the chance to have a go at most sports. He also tried his hand at ballroom dancing, proving to be talented at that too, winning medals for both the cha-cha and the jive.
Martin played up like most teenagers, but his parents never worried about the path he would take in the long term. When he returned to Wollongong in 2004 after working for a catering company in Adelaide, they were thrilled to have him home again. He’d been gone for a couple of years, since 2002, and even brought home a steady girlfriend whom he planned to marry.
He’d started off working in a carpentry place in Unanderra making furniture, but he was to soon learn that hospitality, working in bars and clubs, was his true vocation—he loved it. He felt he had a knack with people and loved going to work at the various hospitality jobs he had over the years. ‘I could spill a drink on someone and have them thinking happy thoughts when I left. To me, it’s not a job,’ Martin says now. He loved thefact that while working, doing things like cleaning the ashtrays in bars, he got to mingle with patrons and meet new people, chat and joke around. He couldn’t ask for more in a job, he thought. He was good at doing the cocktail tricks too.
Stephens did a hospitality course and got the chance to work at the Royal Easter Show and the 2000 Olympics at Homebush in Sydney, as well as at a couple of other bars in Sydney. Hospitality gave him the chance to work in different places and travel. He went to Queensland for a while, to Adelaide and to Uluru.
It was in Adelaide that he first started working for Eurest, the
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