Indonesian court sentences reporter to 7 months in drug case

British national and former news correspondent David Fox stands in a cell before his trial in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, March 9, 2017. Indonesian police arrested Fox Oct. 2016 for allegedly possessing hashish. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati) (The Associated Press)

Handcuffed British national and former news correspondent David Fox, right, walks to a court room for his verdict trial in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday March 9, 2017. Indonesian police arrested Fox Oct. 2016 for allegedly possessing hashish. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati) (The Associated Press)

British national and former news correspondent David Fox, right, listens to an Indonesian interpreter during his trial in Bali, Indonesia, Wednesday, March 9, 2017. Indonesian judges sentenced Fox to seven-months in prison for allegedly possessing hashish. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati) (The Associated Press)

An Indonesian court has sentenced a former Reuters war correspondent to seven months in prison for possessing hashish.

The sentence announced in Bali on Thursday was less than the one-year prison term sought by prosecutors.

British national David Fox was arrested Oct. 8 along with Australian Giuseppe Serafino on the tourist island, where police confiscated a total of 10.09 grams (0.36 ounces) of hashish from Fox's clothing and house.

Fox, 55, worked for Reuters for 20 years but was fired in 2011 for making an off-color remark in an instant-messaging system while covering the 2011 Japan tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdowns.

He told Indonesian police he used the drug to overcome stress caused by covering conflicts.