William McHughes: Struggle Street ‘star’ of SBS reality TV show jailed
William McHughes, who injected meth on camera during the controversial first season of SBS reality show ‘Struggle Street’, has been told his criminal record is ‘deplorable’.
Canberra Star
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One of the stars of SBS show Struggle Street has been told his criminal record is now so deplorable he could spend the rest of his life in jail.
William Lawrence McHughes, now 44, was a regular on the gritty reality TV show, where he called the Aboriginal side of his family “heartless c**ts” for kicking him out of home, forcing him to camp in scrub in western Sydney.
He told viewers his goal was to “get the f**k out of Mount Druitt”.
During the show’s first season, he said police targeted him for making homemade slingshots, which he used to shoot birds and sold on the streets for $50.
McHughes was controversially filmed injecting meth, which he described as “ice cream”.
“Everyone’s gotta have some sort of enjoyment in life, you know?” McHughes said on the show.
In the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday, McHughes was sentenced to six months jail for his latest contravention of a family violence order.
Magistrate Margaret Hunter suspended the jail sentence from next Monday, after just over four months served.
McHughes’s legal aid lawyer, Helen Hayunga, told the court of her client’s starring role in the reality TV show, and said his life had been particularly troubled when he decided to quit drinking, only to turn to heroin.
McHughes was arrested in the Canberra CBD in April, when a police patrol spotted him with a teenage girl.
Child protection authorities had won a court order preventing McHughes from being near her.
Ms Hunter said McHughes had a “deplorable criminal history, to be quite honest”, including 10 contraventions of restraining orders in NSW and the ACT.
“Nothing but a term of imprisonment is appropriate,” Ms Hunter said.
“He continues to make poor decisions and continues to be part of the criminal justice system, which is unfortunate.
“I’m sure he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life in jail, but that’s where he’s heading.”
She ordered McHughes to be released on Monday, so he would have his last week behind bars at Canberra’s notorious prison, the Alexander Maconochie Centre, to arrange a place to live. Being released on a week day also meant he could get an appointment at Centrelink, Ms Hunter said.