The exclusive "story behind the story" of Kerry and Kay Danes, the Australian business couple arrested and jailed in Laos and released at the end of last year after Federal Government intervention. But although safely home in Australia, the Daneses are now broke, traumatised and trying to reclaim their reputations in the face of Australian public suspicion that they must have been guilty of something. Kerry Danes was on accumulated leave from his job with the Army when he and his wife and their children decided to move to Laos to manage a security company. But when one of his clients from a gem mining company became embroiled in a web of international intrigue and left the country, the authorities targetted the Daneses, accusing them of stealing jewellery and sapphires. They were arrested and thrown into jail in nightmarish conditions. Eventually convicted of embezzlement, destruction of evidence and tax evasion, the Daneses were sentenced to seven years jail before Foreign Minister Alexander Downer stepped in and negotiated a settlement which secured the couple's freedom - but left them with a one million dollar compensation bill and a criminal conviction. For this episode Australian Story filmed in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth and travelled to Laos to further investigate the saga and interview key players in that country.
—Australian Story