Former Adelaide property rich-lister Cathy Jayne Britten, 51, sobs after release on bail

She spent 10 days behind bars after failing to attend court – but this former rich-lister says she won’t make the same mistake again.

A former multimillion-dollar real estate mogul has cried in relief after learning she would be released on bail after spending 10 days in custody for missing court over unlicensed driving charges.

On Thursday, Cathy Jayne Britten, 51, appeared in the Christies Beach Court via video link from the Adelaide Women’s Prison after an “expensive” arrest.

Adam Richards, for Ms Britten, said his client had been taken in to custody – two hours before her recent civil hearing – for failing to attend court on one of her pending files.

Mr Richards submitted that Ms Britten had breached the conditions of her bail on a “number” of occasions, but the mistake “will never be repeated”.

“In the scale of things, there is a number of breaches of bail, but I think some of them brought about by misadventure rather than any malign intent,” Mr Richards said.

“The arrest in this, is literally an expensive one …”

Cathy Jayne Britten – then Pearce – outside her Medindie mansion in the 2000s …

… and outside the locked gates to her Richmond business, Soak House Adelaide, in August. Picture: Supplied.

Ms Britten – formerly known as Cathy Jayne Pearce, Staker and Hogben – was a BRW rich-lister and property tycoon in the 2000s, prior to her businesses going bankrupt.

She is currently embroiled in a Supreme Court dispute with the landlords of her most recent business, Soak House Adelaide, over allegedly unpaid rent.

On September 16, Ms Britten was arrested on a warrant after failing to attend court while on bail for driving under disqualification or suspension – which was originally charged in 2021.

The Mount Jagged woman is yet to enter pleas to a number of charges including dishonestly dealing with documents at Brighton in October 2021.

She is further charged with having driven at night, with excess blood alcohol, and in contravention of a learner’s permit the same year.

Ms Britten said she was in “good hands” after gaining Mr Richards as legal counsel to assist with a number of pending court matters.

Ms Britten is also charged with driving under disqualification or suspension in 2021, and a second count of the same offence in 2022.

She is further charged with two counts of failing to comply with bail agreements – once in 2023, and a second time in 2024.

Mr Richards said each of the bail breaches had occurred as Ms Britten had “given primacy to other matters in her life” and her incarceration had “brought home in sledgehammer fashion” the importance of complying with her bail.

Mr Koehn granted Ms Britten bail in the sum of $1000, with her husband and adult son to act as guarantors in the sum of $1000 each.

after hearing the news, Ms Britten said “I was trying to handle it all myself, and I thought I could, and just with everything else in my life I just couldn’t, so it is of no disrespect to the court that I haven’t handled it.”

“I now believe I am in really good hands with Mr Richards and I totally trust him.”