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Family's fears as autistic British 18-year-old last seen on Father's Day is arrested in Japan with kilo of drugs in suitcase

Family's fears as autistic British 18-year-old last seen on Father's Day is arrested in Japan with kilo of drugs in suitcase

Daily Mail​2 days ago
An autistic British teenager has been detained on drug smuggling charges in Japan, his sister has claimed.
Sean Stephenson, 18, disappeared unexpectedly on Father's Day for a 'sightseeing trip' to Canada.
But, after an onward flight to Japan, he got arrested on June 21 with a locked suitcase containing more than a kilo of methamphetamine, it is alleged.
His sister claims that he 'acted under pressure; from British gang members who exploited his autism and threatened to break his legs.
Sean, from Charlton in South East London, was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) aged five, and had to be put on a reduced timetable due to his struggles at school.
His family insist he has never broken the law, is not involved in gangs, and must have been coerced and threatened into allegedly transporting drugs due to his much lower mental age.
Desperate for any evidence to clear his name, even if inadmissible under Japanese law, Sean's family have gone to the Metropolitan Police and the National Crime Agency (NCA) to report their concerns.
But the family have been sent from pillar to post by the two organisations, they claim, both of whom told MyLondon to speak to the other.
'I have not eaten. I have not slept. I'm a nervous wreck,' Sean's 33-year-old sister Ami Lee said, with just over a week before Sean goes in front of a Tokyo judge.
'I am worried because my brother has [bad] mental health. I am scared we are gonna get a call to say "Your brother has taken his own life".
'That is my biggest fear when he's innocent. If he was not innocent I would still be trying to help, but my brother is innocent. I just want to get him home. If I can't get him home, the least I can do is try to get help.'
Ms Lee claims her brother has told her he was recruited by a gang in London and 'forced' to transport drugs across borders.
Since his detention, Ms Lee said Sean, through his lawyer, said that he was followed to Heathrow Airport and received threats to 'break his legs and hurt his family' if he did not get on the first flight to Canada.
Ms Lee also said Sean has claimed he was threatened with a broken bottle of Smirnoff Ice around two weeks before his arrest. Sean told her police were called out to the incident on June 10th, but he did not press forward with a criminal complaint.
'He's not in a gang, he's very very vulnerable,' Ms Lee said, 'He's quite a people pleaser. He would do anything to please people and make friends because Sean has got no friends. He's very about his family.
He's got nine nieces and nephews. He's more on their level. My sister is 18-years-old and she does not come around and play tag or it with people.'
Ms Lee also said Sean has a history of self-harm, suicide attempts, and other medical conditions.
Sean's family have no idea who got him involved in alleged drug smuggling.
Experts on county lines have long warned autism is a risk factor in gang grooming, with autistic young people seen as easy prey due to their desire for friendship, and difficulty detecting lies and manipulation.
The FCDO has confirmed it is supporting Sean and is in contact with Japanese authorities.
Last year Australian national Donna Nelson was jailed for six years after she was found guilty of smuggling 2kg of methamphetamine into Tokyo in 2023, despite her claims she had been the victim of an online romance scam.
Prosecutors had asked for a 10-year sentence and $30,000 fine after she was caught with the drug concealed in the bottom of her suitcase.
The case highlighted what some commentators have called the 'hostage justice' system, due to Japan's 23-day pre-charge detention period.
A 2023 Human Rights Watch article about Japanese justice focussed on reports of coerced confessions, the refusal of bail, police questioning without the presence of a lawyer, and the denial of family visits.
Sean's mum Star Lee, 57, added: 'I'm just so sad for Sean. I can't explain how I am feeling. It's a traumatic experience for all the family. We have not been allowed any direct contact with him.
'We hear all these bad things about prisons abroad. We don't know what's happening and we are just praying he is safe.'
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EXCLUSIVE 'It's as if the bombing happened 30 seconds ago': Heartbreaking words of 7/7 bombings survivor - as he reflects 20 years on from tragedy
EXCLUSIVE 'It's as if the bombing happened 30 seconds ago': Heartbreaking words of 7/7 bombings survivor - as he reflects 20 years on from tragedy

Daily Mail​

time7 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

EXCLUSIVE 'It's as if the bombing happened 30 seconds ago': Heartbreaking words of 7/7 bombings survivor - as he reflects 20 years on from tragedy

'Whenever I do interviews, people go, Oh, I don't want to take you back to that dark place of the day. That's where I live. That's where I am 24-7. 'It's as if the bombing happened 30 seconds ago, not 20 years ago. My brain still can't fully process what happened that day. 'I suffer from night terrors, flashbacks, panic attacks, depression, and it all stems from what happened that day, trying to live with that trauma. At times, it feels like life is worse than death.' Those are the chilling words of Dan Bridle, the most seriously injured survivor of the 7/7 bombings, as he relives the moment which changed his life forever, when he locked eyes with a suicide bomber who blew himself up in the London underground. It happened on a busy summer's morning in London, in 2005. Four terrorists, each carrying a rucksack packed with explosives, unleashed hell on the capital, blowing up three Tube trains and a double-decker bus in the deadliest Islamic terror attack in British history, claiming the lives of 56 people and injuring hundreds more. Dan was carried out, bloodied, burnt, his eye and both his legs blown off, with a two per cent survival chance. And despite the miracle of still being alive following such a brutal experience, 20 years on, while his physical wounds may have healed, the mental scars run just as deep. The ghosts of that dark July morning still haunt him, in his sleep, in his thoughts, and in every silent moment. That Thursday morning started like most days for the then-26-year-old, working on a construction site early in the morning. He said: 'I woke up at my normal time, about quarter past five in the morning. I had a really bad migraine and didn't feel very well, so I decided that I'd go back to sleep. 'Then, when I woke up later on, I'd ring in sick and let the guys know that I wasn't coming in. 'I woke up about an hour later and felt better, so I decided that I'd get myself up, have a shower, and take myself off to work.' That day, everything seemed to conspire against Dan Bridle. By the time he left his house in Romford, Essex, he was already running 90 minutes behind. A small delay, which would end up setting the course of events in motion. A bus was waiting just around the corner, an unexpected bit of luck, or so it seemed. But it only made it a short distance before a burst water main halted everything. Dan sat there, torn between returning home to fetch his car and waiting it out. He chose to stay. Finally reaching Romford station, he moved through his usual commute: Romford to Liverpool Street, then on to Baker Street, and from there, the Bakerloo line to Wembley Central and then to the site. A route he'd taken countless times. But nothing about that morning was routine. As he climbed the stairs to the platform, he realised he'd forgotten his travel card which forced to rely on a ticket machine. Eventually, he boarded a fast train to Liverpool Street. A silver lining, or so he thought, until a signal failure at Stratford delayed them again. 'Normally I would have bought a cup of coffee, a sandwich, a newspaper, a couple of cans of Red Bull and a couple of Mars bars just to get me through the day. I didn't do any of that. I just ran straight through the concourse, put my ticket into the ticket barrier. 'As I'm coming down the steps onto the Circle Line platform, there was a train already on the platform and it was heaving. 'And I just decided that I'd just wait for the next one. I was late anyway, so a couple of minutes wasn't going to make a difference.' As he gets into the carriage packed with commuters going about their everyday business, it catches his attention. 'I remember we pulled into King's Cross Station, and I saw a guy get on at the front of the carriage I was in. 'He walked past me, went to the far end of the train, and basically stayed there. 'He had a baseball cap on, a parka-ish looking jacket, blue jeans, and was carrying a rucksack. 'He also had a beard, but it was a tightly shaven beard. It wasn't really long or out of control; it was neatly trimmed.' The man, who ended up sitting inches from Dan, was bomber Mohammad Sidique Khan. Dan went on: 'And then I just saw him walk back past me and he sat down next to where I was standing. 'And at the time, I was training up a young site manager on the site I was running. So I had the idea of typing a text message in my phone, getting off at Baker Street, running outside the station, sending a message, coming back in, getting the next train and finishing my journey.' He looked down to his phone, frantically typing up a message, but misses his stop, but quickly works out quickly he can stop at Paddington and change to the Bakerloo Line. They're now at Edgware Road station, and the train's doors have just closed and it's about to go into the tunnel. 'The train pulled out of Edgware Road Station, and we travelled a little way into the tunnel when I felt somebody staring at me. I looked around, and the guy sitting next to where I was standing was just staring at me. I thought it was a bit odd, but I went back to what I was doing. 'It was almost like he was looking through me. It was just this intense stare, as if he was looking right through me. 'Then, when I saw him lean forward and look down the carriage, he sat back and started staring at me again. He began to make me feel a little uneasy because he was staring at me so much. 'I was about to turn around and say, "What's your problem, mate? What are you looking at? Then I saw him reach into the bag, and suddenly there was a big white flash, an immense amount of heat, and a huge shockwave hit me. 'It blew me off the train. I hit the tunnel wall and landed in the crawl space between the tunnel wall and the track.' His first instinct was that there had been an electrical explosion and that Dan was thrown off the train by the shockwave hit the tunnel wall and landed in the space between the tunnel wall and the tracks. 'I realised I had landed in a prime position with my arms above my head. When I brought my arms down, both my arms and hands were on fire. I just lay there looking at them, thinking, "Surely this should hurt more". It stung, but it wasn't excruciating. 'I literally watched the flames go out, then looked around to see what was going on. 'That's when I saw the first dead body behind me, and everywhere I looked after that, the horrors just got worse.' In the shocking seconds after the blast, Dan says there was a deadly silence, no screams, just stunned confusion. Survivors lay tangled with the dead, everyone desperate to make sense of the horror unfolding around them. The terrifying stillness screamed louder than any explosion, as panic and disbelief battled for hold in those heart-stopping moments. 'You could have heard a pin drop in that tunnel,' the 46-year-old said. 'It was like there was the blast and then it was almost like everybody had took an intake of breath and waited for somebody to make a noise. 'And when one person did, it was like opening the gates of hell. The screams, the crying, the fear, it just all kind of hit like a tsunami.' This was the second blast of three, which were all carried out within 50 seconds of each other, with the first happening on a Circle line train between Liverpool Street and Aldgate and then on a Piccadilly Line service which had just departed King's Cross St Pancras. Soon after this, it became apparent that Dan had the catastrophic and life-changing injuries he had sustained. His left leg had been completely blown off, whilst the bones on his right leg were shattered from the knee down. His liver, colon, bowel and kidney had all been lacerated by a pole which went through his body whilst also suffering similar injuries to his head and mouth. Frankly, it was a miracle he was still alive, and in the middle of all that, he was trapped under debris. It was during this time that he heard a voice out of the darkness, 'What's your name?' It was Adrian who promised, 'Keep talking to me, I'll find you.' Adrian, severely injured himself - he'd dislocated his shoulder, broken ribs, and had a deep head wound - had crawled under the train to reach Dan. A former Austrian combat medic with Kosovo experience, the man calmly lifted debris, assessed Dan's injuries. 'He knew exactly what to do. When he found me, he lifted the debris off and assessed my injuries. 'The first thing he said was, "I've been in this situation before and never lost anyone". Then he asked, "Do you have anything I don't want to catch?" I replied, "No, all good". 'He knelt down in front of me and said, "I'm not going to lie to you, this is really going to f***ing hurt". 'With that, he forced his hand into what was left of my left leg, found the femoral artery, pinched it shut, and stopped me from bleeding to death.' For 40 agonising minutes, Dan and dozens of others lay motionless on the tracks in the pitch-black tunnel with time stretching like minutes, not seconds. 'A minute felt like a week. It was a horrendous wait. I thought I was going to die. The atmosphere down there was fear and panic, and nobody knew what had gone on. 'People just wanted to get out. And it was terrifying. There's no other way to describe it. It was absolutely terrifying.' As paramedics descended into the tunnel and found him, they quickly rushed to get him out as soon as possible. They spent a long time pumping fluids and painkillers into him and then secured him onto a scoop stretcher and began the slow process of getting me out of the tunnel. It was only as he emerged from the station that Dan finally got a sense of the magnitude of what had happened. He was rushed to St Mary's Hospital, and there began an almost year-long process of recovery for him. He was sedated, had three cardiac arrests, all three in which he had to be resuscitated and had 87 units of blood; he had his left leg amputated near his hip, while the right leg was amputated through the knee. He was treated for burns and was in a coma for eight weeks, and during that even contracted a rare infection from bacteria which had been kept in the Victorian tunnels. He was in intensive care for 12 weeks and in the hospital for 51 weeks, and he was finally discharged on June 30, 2006. '[The doctors] can't understand how I'm still alive. 'The lead consultant who looked after me at St Mary's was a gentleman called Duncan Black. And Duncan's South African, and he said over the course of his career, he's dealt with landmine injuries, gunshot wounds, and machete attacks, all during apartheid in South Africa. 'And he basically said to my parents that any one of my injuries singly should kill me. How I'm still alive, he had no idea.' In the years that followed, he struggled with mental health after witnessing the horror of that day, and when he reached out to mental health teams at the time, he was told that it would be 18 months before he could see a clinician. It was only after seven years and three suicide attempts that he was able to get the support he desperately needed. But 20 years on, he still finds himself re-living that awful day. 'I've not slept properly for almost 20 years now. I have night terrors constantly. If I sleep for more than four hours a night, I've done well. 'And it's never four hours solid. It's four hours of broken sleep. And I just have nightmares. The 7-7 is like a horror movie on repeat in my head that I can't turn off.' On the 20th anniversary of the attacks, the now-married 46-year-old, who has published a book called ' Back From The Dead ' on his horrific experience which changed his life forever, is calling for a full inquiry into how the attacks slipped through the net. Despite calls from survivors, families, no full public inquiry has ever taken place. Instead, in 2006, the government released a Home Office narrative report, a summary of the attacks and what was known but critics slammed it as a whitewash. Then came the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) reports in 2006 and 2009, which admitted 'missed opportunities' by MI5, but still no courtroom-style public inquiry. In 2011, a coroner's inquest into the deaths of the victims finally gave more details and found that the attacks could not have been prevented, but MI5's decisions were open to criticism. He added: 'I don't have any form of closure. It's still as raw and as painful now as it was when it happened. 'I think closure comes when you get some understanding of how this could happen. And we've never had a public inquiry into 7-7. So you can't get closure until you have some understanding as to how this happens and how these individuals can slip through the net and carry out these atrocities. 'So when we talk about closure, I don't think anybody would ever fully get closure from the day. 'But I certainly think if we knew what had gone wrong, if we knew what the failings were and things like that, you get some understanding of how it happened. But unfortunately, the government have treated most of us who were there on 7-7 with utter contempt, and they won't do a public inquiry, so they're just happy for us to keep suffering.'

What drove a 22-year-old to walk into a shopping centre with a gun?
What drove a 22-year-old to walk into a shopping centre with a gun?

Times

timea day ago

  • Times

What drove a 22-year-old to walk into a shopping centre with a gun?

Evan Fitzgerald seemed determined to die a violent death — and on the evening of June 1, he came dangerously close to taking­ others with him. Armed with a shotgun he had stolen from a neighbour, the 22-year-old began firing­ random shots as he walked through the Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow, causing terrified shoppers to flee for their lives. Fitzgerald had long struggled with his mental health and is believed to have entered a state of acute psychosis in the hours before the attack. Earlier that day, he visited a friend's home and left a USB stick in a sealed bag taped to their bedroom window, along with a capital letter E written in duct tape. On the device were his thoughts about how — and why — he intended to die violently. He wrote about his past, personal issues and beliefs about how he might die. It remains unclear whether Fitzgerald wanted to harm others or only himself. Or maybe he hoped he would be shot by gardai. Witnesses say he fired his gun but did not appear to take careful aim. The shots were fired overhead, as if to frighten rather than kill. In the end, Fitzgerald turned the weapon on himself. He died by suicide, bringing a tragic conclusion to the events of that Sunday. Such random incidents are rare, if not unprecedented, in Ireland but over the past decade there have been scores of such incidents across the US and Europe, many resulting in mass killings. While there is no single profile for perpetrators of these acts, they often share traits: violent nihilism, suicidal ideation, troubled histories, a sense of isolation. In the midst of psychosis, they sometimes want to become celebrated figures online. Investigators are still trying to determine Fitzgerald's motive. The young man had threatened suicide in the past but he was not ideologically driven. He had not been radicalised online by extremists. There is no evidence to show he consumed violent content online. Many gunmen such as Fitzgerald behave like terrorists without being ­politically motivated, according to Anne Speckhard, director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism in Washington. 'This is not politically motivated violence, but it might be called motivated violence. The dynamic is simple. They are people who are mentally unwell and convinced that suicide and killing is a good answer to their life problems. They sometimes want to become a false hero, like you get famous for doing something,' she said. Young people with mental health difficulties are especially vulnerable to the lure of violence. Speckhard likened Fitzgerald not to violent extremists but to a school shooter, the type of young person who acquires guns before threatening and sometimes killing their fellow students­ for no clear reasons. 'These people are highly dangerous because they see violence as their way out. The authorities in Ireland need to be aware of how these incidents sometimes prompt copycats. There are young vulnerable people who might be inspired to behave like this man,' she said. Fitzgerald grew up in Portrushen, a rural community on the Carlow-Wicklow border. He struggled at school with learning disabilities but he was well liked. He was not a loner. The pictures of him at his debs show a smiling, confident-looking young man surrounded by friends. He was much loved by his mother and father. His family declined to contribute to this story. Fitzgerald had struggled with his mental health for years, but as he grew older and left school, he became more capable, more independent but, ultimately, more dangerous as he had developed a fixation with guns and his own death. When he left school and began working in steel fabrication, Fitzgerald suddenly found himself able to financially pursue his obsession with guns, which led him to the darknet. The very traits that helped him function — independence, income and ability — gave him the tools to act on his worst impulses. In ­people fascinated by violence, especially those who feel alienated or unstable, this combination can be volatile. Fitzgerald first came to the attention of garda intelligence early last year, when investigators were alerted to attempts by an anonymous user to source firearms on darknet marketplaces — online forums often used by criminals to trade in drugs, weapons and stolen data. The forums are among the most heavily monitored by intelligence and police services as they are a rich source of information. Undercover gardai assumed the role of an underworld gun dealer and began communicating with the individual via a Proton Mail account. The account Fitzgerald used was eventually linked to an Irish internet service provider, which helped investigators trace his identity. His request for military-grade weapons led garda intelligence to suspect he was being coerced or his identity had been stolen. The exchanges revealed Fitzgerald had a limited understanding of how the darknet worked: he could not pay in bitcoin — the preferred currency in illicit online markets. Instead, he had to improvise. Fitzgerald sent photographs of bundles of cash to the undercover gardai and promised to pay on delivery. Once his identity was established, garda intelligence began monitoring his actions more closely. But they had no way of knowing his plans or the state of his mental health. On March 2, Fitzgerald and two friends travelled from their homes to meet what they believed was a criminal willing to sell weapons at a prearranged rendezvous. Fitzgerald handed over more than €2,500 in notes before returning to his friend's car with a Heckler & Koch G3 assault rifle, a Remington pistol, and rounds of ammunition for each gun. Not long after, their vehicle was intercepted by the emergency response unit near Straffan, Co Kildare. Later that day, officers searched Fitzgerald's home near Kiltegan in Carlow. Inside, they made a startling discovery. He had been making explosives. There was a black powder mixture of potassium nitrate, sulphur and charcoal, as well as a separate mix containing ammonium perchlorate, potassium perchlorate, sulphur and magnalium. The team also recovered ammunition for rifles and handguns, shotgun cartridges, and magazines for an AK-47 rifle, a Tokarev pistol, and another for Makarov pistols, the type used in gangland killings. His internet history and technology did not reveal much. He had not watched online gore or visited extremist websites. There was no guiding hand propelling him towards violence. In custody, Fitzgerald freely admitted responsibility for buying the guns, suggesting he just wanted to shoot targets. He said he had stolen the chemicals used to make his explosives, and named a friend as the source of some of the ammunition. However, the detectives could not take his account at face value as some of the ammunition matched types commonly used in gangland shootings. Fitzgerald and his two friends were charged in connection with the weapons and ammunition found in the car. Fitzgerald would later face additional charges relating to the explosives and other firearms parts and ammunition recovered from his home. Hence the initial court hearing was told that investigations were ongoing into the origin of the firearms. Gardai initially objected to bail, but it was later granted under strict conditions. Fitzgerald was due to receive a trial date when he died. The intricacies of the operation that led to Fitzgerald's arrest entered the public domain through Alan Kelly, the Labour TD, who was briefed by a garda whistleblower. The officer, who has made a series of protected disclosures about alleged failings at Garda Headquarters, told Kelly about the provenance of the weapons involved in the sting operation. Kelly has since raised the matter in the Dail and before the Oireachtas justice committee, arguing that Fitzgerald should have been diverted into mental health services rather than arrested and McDowell, the senator and senior counsel, has also suggested the operation amounted to entrapment. Few who understand the intricacies of covert policing would agree with criticisms of the garda approach, however. • No inquiry into garda gun sting linked to Carlow shooting Roy McComb, former deputy director of the National Crime Agency in Britain who wrote the policy document on controlled deliveries for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said the garda operation was entirely legitimate. 'Controlled deliveries carry risks, but all policing does. This young lad had been trying to buy guns. He just happened to contact law enforcement rather than criminals. It's not entrapment. It would be if someone enticed him out of the blue to commit a crime he had no intention of committing,' McComb said. 'The gardai found out about this because he contacted the wrong person. They didn't initiate the crime — they facilitated it for the purposes of … building a case. That's an entirely legitimate purpose.'McComb, like others, believes it is dangerously misguided to suggest the gardai should have handled the case differently. 'These investigations tend to unfold in a certain way. If you pause, the person trying to buy weapons may go elsewhere. The gardai were always working against the clock. In covert policing, you're not in charge of every moving part, but from what I've seen, they did all the right things with the right intentions.' Many familiar with Fitzgerald believe the debate should not focus on the operation that stopped him acquiring weapons but on the violent trends emerging in society. Among them is the growing tendency of young people — often struggling with mental health issues — to embrace violent ideologies and violence itself. Fitzgerald's arrest in Straffan did not deter him. Gardai found another stolen weapon and an imitation firearm in his home after he died. He had also stolen the gun and ammunition he used to kill himself from a neighbour. Speckhard says the challenge is no longer about just about intercepting weapons or preventing attacks — it is about understanding and countering the glorification of violence. 'Unless these underlying drivers are addressed, more cases like these, and worse, are almost inevitable,' she said.

Concerns grow for former Sydney society 'It' girl and celebrity stylist Kelly Smythe after she was accused of shocking forgery scam
Concerns grow for former Sydney society 'It' girl and celebrity stylist Kelly Smythe after she was accused of shocking forgery scam

Daily Mail​

timea day ago

  • Daily Mail​

Concerns grow for former Sydney society 'It' girl and celebrity stylist Kelly Smythe after she was accused of shocking forgery scam

Friends of Sydney socialite and stylist Kelly Smythe are growing concerned in the wake of her shocking forgery scam scandal. The one-time 2000s 'It' girl was arrested in May for allegedly forging prescriptions and was taken into custody at Surry Hills Police Station in Sydney 's inner east. The 47-year-old, who lives on Australia's most expensive street in Point Piper, spent the night at the station before appearing before Downing Centre Local Court via video link, where she made a release application while being held on remand. Now, her friends have broken their silence over the scandal, revealing that not all is as it seems and the 'truth will come out'. 'There was a huge amount going on for Kelly that only people in her inner circle are aware of,' one close friend told the Sunday Confidential. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The insider then shared a revelation regarding the celebrity stylist that sheds some light on her mental wellbeing at the time of the alleged offences. 'She was in a very scary place and a victim to serious DV for many years,' the source said. 'The man involved was eventually charged and pleaded guilty to his crimes, but it changed her and she never fully recovered.' The New Zealand-born socialite's glamorous life unravelled overnight after she was charged with two counts of using a false document to obtain property and two counts of obtaining or attempting to get a prohibited drug by false representation. A charge sheet showed Smythe allegedly used a false letter and two fraudulent scripts to get dexamphetamine and lisdexamfetamine from the Paddington Compounding Pharmacy on Oxford street in February 21 and May 15. Dexamphetamine medication is used in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy (sleep disorder) while Lisdexamfetamine treats moderate-to-severe binge eating disorder in adults. Smythe's barrister Charles Alexander lodged a release application on his client's behalf. 'She knows she needs to stay on the straight and narrow,' he told the court. She was known for living life in the fast lane before take a step away form the limelight several years ago Magistrate Sharon Freund said the police facts indicated there may be further charges pending, but no fresh charges had been laid. The magistrate granted bail but added: 'I suspect your client may have an issue with the drugs she has been self-prescribing.' Smythe, who wore gold-rimmed sunglasses during her video-linked court appearance, said: 'Thank you so much, ma'am.' The case will be back before the court in July. At the height of her career, Kelly was a Seven Network stylist and the go-to fashion adviser to Sydney's elite, styling Miranda Kerr, Jennifer Hawkins, Jodi Gordon and Sonia Kruger. But after five years at the helm of the wardrobe styling department, Seven cut ties with her. With the local fashion industry teetering on the brink of collapse, Smythe struggled with freelance work and former friends say she vanished from the limelight. She tied the knot in 2011 with Alex Nikolaidis, 10 years younger than her, at St Mark's Church in the ritzy eastern suburbs enclave of Darling Point in front of clients and Sydney's society set including Roxy Jacenko, Holly Brisley and Chris Bath. The couple welcomed a son, who is now 14, a year before saying 'I do'. They are now divorced.

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