Shannon Noll faces court on cocaine possession charge
RADIO announcer Kyle Sandilands has provided a character reference for singer Shannon Noll’s court appearance where the Australian Idol star escaped conviction on a cocaine possession charge.
St George Shire Standard
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CONTROVERSIAL radio announcer Kyle Sandilands has provided a character reference for singer Shannon Noll’s court appearance where he escaped conviction on a cocaine possession charge.
Noll received a 12-month good behaviour bond for possession of 0.53g of cocaine with a magistrate saying the singer had never gotten over the death of his father.
No criminal conviction was recorded after Noll pleaded guilty to the single charge at Sutherland Local Court on Thursday.
The 43-year-old former Australian Idol star was playing pool with friends at the Caringbah Hotel at 8.15pm on September 13 when police entered with a drug dog for a random inspection.
Upon seeing police, Noll moved to a secluded corner of the pub, where officers saw him pull a clear resealable bag of white powder from his left pocket and drop it on the floor beneath a table.
He was then escorted to the smoking area for a search before police issued him with a court attendance notice.
Reading from the facts, Magistrate Glenn Walsh acknowledged Noll had suffered public humiliation and loss of income as a result of the incident.
“For a man of 43, this is such a profound fall from grace that is contrary to his previous good character,” Mr Walsh said.
“He will continue to suffer in relation to his continued loss of work.”
However, Mr Walsh said purchasing cocaine “supports a drug culture that is nothing but destructive”.
“I am unable to find there is a significant relationship between obtaining a small amount of cocaine and the conditions that he suffers, particularly his severe depression caused by the death of his father some years ago,” Mr Walsh said.
“He has never really gotten over the death of his father and he simply hasn’t been able to deal with it properly.”
Sandilands was among those who provided character references for Noll after the embarrassing public incident.
Noll’s solicitor Bryan Wrench said Noll had donated an estimated $1 million to various charities throughout his career, and most recently to drought-affected farmers across the state.
“Not to put a gloss on his offending, but...his depression is described as clinically severe, and he suffers significant back problems as a consequence of suffering a back injury while appearing on Dancing With The Stars,” Mr Wrench told the court.
“He does want to get better, it was an error of judgment and he does not shy away from that.”
The court also heard Noll does roughly 80 gigs a year and immediately lost two opportunities after his drug charge was publicised.
Noll is an icon in his adopted home of the Sutherland Shire, and was recently immortalised in a larger-than-life portrait featuring his Southern Cross chest tattoo on the side of Cronulla Mexican bar El Sol.
