Accompanied by his ex-wife Kirsty McIvor, who flew in recently to attend his court hearing, Lloyd, 42, was all smiles as he entered the court with about a dozen journalists trailing behind.

He pleaded guilty to possessing and consuming Ice and for having the utensils used to consume it.

Lloyd was initially charged with drug trafficking as well when he was first arrested in July. But last month, the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) withdrew the trafficking charge, sparing him from the possibility of caning and a maximum 20-year jail term if found guilty of that.

The AGC later said it withdrew the charge due to an unreliable witness. In August, sales executive Sani Saidi, 31, was jailed for 10 months for having 0.15g of Ice. He had told the court that he bought the drug from Lloyd in a room at York Hotel in July.

Pleading for leniency for his client yesterday, lawyer Hamidul Haq told the court that Lloyd suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder which resulted in nightmares and flashbacks. Mr Haq said the condition, which began early this year, was sparked by 'traumatic' incidents such as the Bali and Karachi bombings that Lloyd witnessed as a journalist. His client had also covered the 2004 tsunami which killed over 225,000 people in countries such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand.

Lloyd, a former South Asia correspondent with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for six years, has been a journalist since 1985.

Mr Haq said: 'He had to fight off sleep because when he fell asleep, he had these nightmares. Consuming Ice became a self-medication for him.'

However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Natalie Morris said that Lloyd was clearly still able to tell right from wrong despite having consumed the drug as a 'coping mechanism'. She said his condition could not be used as a justification for his actions as he had planned to obtain and consume the drug.

Donning glasses and a smart grey suit, Lloyd looked flushed in the dock, busily taking notes of the proceedings, glancing up occasionally.

Lloyd arrived in Singapore from Indonesia on July 8 to receive medical treatment at Mount Elizabeth Hospital for an eye infection.

The next day, he contacted a drug supplier whom he had met a few months earlier here, to buy some Ice. The pair arranged to meet that day at Wheelock Place in Orchard Road where Lloyd paid $1,000 for the drugs.

Lloyd was arrested a week later along Upper Serangoon Road.

His ex-wife, who was granted permission to speak to Lloyd after the hearing, was in tears after he was sentenced. Ms McIvor, a former ABC journalist who has two young sons with Lloyd, angrily told reporters not to speak to her as she walked out of the courthouse.

Playing it cool, Lloyd packed his things into a sling bag and threw it over his shoulders before he was handcuffed and led away.

sujint@sph.com.sg