Harriet Wran turning life around after jail with a job at Bondi Vet Chris Brown’s clinic
CONVICTED crim and daughter of late Labor Premier Neville Wran, Harriet Wran is finding “solace” working with animals at Bondi Vet Dr Chris Brown’s clinic following her ice-fuelled fall from grace.
NSW
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EX-CON Harriet Wran is finding “solace” working with animals at Bondi Vet Dr Chris Brown’s clinic following her ice-fuelled fall from grace.
Ms Wran, the daughter of former NSW Premier Neville, is recovering from her addiction after two years behind bars for her role in the robbery and murder of a drug dealer.
She has been volunteering at the TV vet’s hospital once-a-week and finds contact with animals “calming” and “therapeutic”.
Ms Wran previously told how interacting with pets helps her relax at times of anxiety telling the court during her trial “I adore animals and I missed them so much in jail”.
A source told The Daily Telegraph: “She has been volunteering at the clinic in Bondi since February and loves it. It helps centre her, animals make her feel calm and relaxed and give her confidence.
“She’s not doing it as part of her therapy, she just loves animals, they’re her passion. The experience gives her solace.”
Although not officially part of the 29-year-old’s recovery program, animal-assisted therapies are known to help people deal with mental health disorders, relieve stress and provide drug addicts with activities to distract from cravings and triggers.
The former Sydney Church of England Grammar School pupil has been seeing a psychiatrist since her release from jail and friends say she looks like a different person to the distressed woman who left Silverwater prison in September.
Upon her release from jail, Ms Wran expressed a desire to enrol at the University of Technology of Sydney on a business degree and volunteer in animal welfare on the side.
She has been quietly rebuilding her life living at the alcohol-free family home in up-market Woollahra with the support of her mother, Jill Hickson-Wran, and has swapped drugs for daily gym visits.
Earlier this year she planned to work in a Ted Noffs Foundation thrift store selling second-hand clothing to raise cash to treat drug and alcohol-addicted youths but recently decided she was not ready.
Chief executive of the foundation Matt Noffs said: “Harriet and I met earlier this year to discuss many things as well as her working in one of our op shops but we didn’t chat about volunteering in depth and, in the end, she wasn’t quite ready for it, but she’s doing brilliantly and taking it one day at a time.
“It’s still an option for the future.”
Ms Wran was jailed for her role in a drug-fuelled robbery that ended in the murder of ice-dealer Daniel McNulty, 48. She was numb on ice when she and then-boyfriend Michael Lee doorknocked McNulty’s Redfern housing commission apartment with Lloyd Edward Haines.
Once open, the trio burst through the door and robbed Mr McNulty of ice for a $650 score before Lee stabbed him to death.
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