Renae Lawrence's long road to release

Bali Nine heroin smuggler Renae Lawrence arrived in her hometown of Newcastle on Thursday after being freed overnight from an Indonesian prison. Here's how she ended up there:

APRIL, 2005:

* Lawrence and eight others are arrested at Bali airport and a local hotel over a plot to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin into Australia

* Lawrence has more than 2kg of heroin strapped to her body

SEPTEMBER, 2005:

* Indonesian prosecutors say all nine Australians will be charged with offences that carry the death penalty

FEBRUARY, 2006:

* Lawrence gets life in jail but prosecutors had argued for 20 years because she co-operated with police

* At her trial she claimed ringleader Andrew Chan threatened to kill her and her family unless she carried the drugs

* Chan and fellow ringleader Myuran Sukumaran are sentenced to death; the rest end up with life in jail

APRIL, 2006:

* Lawrence and four others appeal their life sentences; They win and get 20 years instead

- Lawrence decides to not lodge further appeals

SEPTEMBER 2010:

* Others try their luck but some lose spectacularly, with some jail terms upgraded to the death penalty

* Ultimately, only the two ringleaders are executed

NOVEMBER, 2018

* After having years shaved off her sentence through remissions for good behaviour, Lawrence is released on November 21

* Accompanied by her mother and step-brother, Lawrence flies into Brisbane airport the next morning and take a connecting flight to her hometown of Newcastle in NSW

* Lawrence and her family dodge large media packs at both airports, with her mother pleading for them to be left alone

* She could be the only member of the Bali Nine to ever taste freedom again, with the rest to die in jail unless their cases are reviewed.