Berkeley Vale: Dentist Dr Steven Lin was on drugs when he appeared to eat faeces at a brothel

Dr Steven Lin literally wrote the book on The Dental Diet. But what the celebrated dentist allegedly ate at a brothel called Sweets was anything but. Warning: disturbing content.

Dr Steven Morgan Lin, 40, author of The Dental Diet, allegedly ate faeces after ripping a waste pipe from the back of a brothel, a court has heard. Picture: supplied

Dr Steven Morgan Lin — the closest thing to a celebrity dentist on the Central Coast — was found semi-clothed, mumbling and sweating profusely at 4.30am behind a brothel.

But not even the police expected what the 40-year-old appeared to put in his mouth when they went to arrest him.

The former owner of the Helix Dentistry chain, podcaster and author of “The Dental Diet” faced Wyong Local Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to two counts of damaging property, breaching an apprehended violence order (AVO) and hindering police.

However, his barrister Sam Pararajasingham, applied to have the charges dealt with under mental health provisions rather than at law.

He told the court Lin had been diagnosed with an anxiety and depressive disorder, as well as substance abuse disorder, which was exacerbated by his drug use at the time.

Dr Steven Morgan Lin, of Helix Dental at Long Jetty, leaving Wyong Local Court after a previous appearance. Picture: NewsLocal

He said Lin’s estranged relationships, which left him in contact with only one of his six children, as well as an “impossible workload” saw him turn to drugs.

“This was a day of madness,” he said.

Lin had a bad day on September 7.

He wrote the book on the dental diet.

“It commenced with the brothel incident … some 12 hours later he was still affected and he attends his ex-partner’s premises with the intention of seeing his son.”

An agreed set of facts states Lin attended Sweets Brothel about 10pm on Friday, September 6, and “received the services at the location and was believed to have left”.

“About 4.30am employees were woken to a noise in the rear patio area,” the facts state.

They looked outside and saw Lin damaging a clothes line so they called police who arrived a short time later.

“Police approached the accused and requested him to drop the section of the clothesline,” the facts state.

“The accused did not respond and continued to bend a section of the clothesline. Police made several requests, with the accused continuing to bend the clothes line. The accused turned away and placed what appeared to be faeces in his mouth.”

Lin appeared to put faeces in his mouth, the facts state. Picture: Facebook

Police tried to take the clothesline out of his hands and eventually arrested him.

“The accused was semi clothed and in a dishevelled state. The accused appeared to be affected by drugs as he was mumbling and sweating profusely,” the facts state.

Brothel staff showed police damage to a wall where Lin had ripped a waste pipe from the brick wall along with some weatherboard cladding and insulation.

He was taken to Wyong Police Station where he was charged with damaging property and hindering officers but could not be interviewed because of his “drug affected state”.

Later, about 6.30pm the same day after he was released Lin went around to his ex-girlfriend’s house at Berkeley Vale in breach of an AVO and smashed a glass window.

Mr Pararajasingham said Lin banged on the window to get his ex-partner’s attention, who was upstairs, and the window broke rather than what the police alleged, which was that he kicked the window in deliberately

Mr Pararajasingham said Lin had paid for the damages to both the brothel and his ex-partner’s window, and had made significant steps to address his mental health including seeing a therapist, no longer practising dentistry and living with his parents in Wollongong.

The police prosecutor opposed the application to have the charges diverted under mental health laws, telling the court Lin’s offending occurred “in a drug fuelled state”.

“It’s quite clear Mr Lin got here on his own actions,” the prosecutor said.

She said Lin fathered a child “in secret” which caused his marriage to collapse and left him in “considerable distress” so he sought solace in drugs.

“This is self drug-induced offending,” she said.

Magistrate Trevor Khan described the events at the brothel as “disturbing” but lower on the criminal scale than breaching the AVO and breaking the window of his ex-partner’s house.

But Mr Khan said even if Lin was dealt with at law, he would not be facing a prison sentence and may want to return to practising dentistry at some future stage.

Mr Khan found the charges proven but granted the mental health application with the condition Lin follow a mental health plan outlined by his psychologist.