An Australian man has been sentenced to one year in prison after being caught smoking a cannabis joint on a Bali beach, reinforcing the hardline stance Indonesia takes against illicit drug use, especially by foreigners.

Nicholas James Langan, 24, from Townsville, remained impassive in Denpasar district court as the judges revealed the sentence, substantially less than the four-year term that prosecutors had demanded, the maximum for personal use of narcotics.

Nicholas James Langan, who shared part of a marijuana joint in Bali, has been sentenced to a year in jail. Credit:Lukman S. Bintoro

During his trial, Langan had told authorities that he had a history of drug and alcohol addiction and impulsively smoked the drugs with his Indonesian driver Hanung Pekik Hermantoro, aged 25. Hermantoro received the same sentence.

Both men have already spent six months in prison on remand, so they will only have to serve another six months before being released.