Gold Coast’s Instagram influencers who faced court for drugs, violence and stealing
From a former Playboy model busted with drugs to a national cheerleader caught stealing, these are the criminal stories of the Gold Coast’s biggest social media influencers. SEE THE FULL LIST
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THEY’RE the picture of perfection online but it’s not all glamour and luxury for these Gold Coast Instagram influencers.
The Bulletin looks at some of the most scandalous court cases involving our kings and queens of social media.
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KARLEE IRONSIDE
GOLD Coast influencer Karlee Ironside was high on ice and Xanax when she crashed her car in Surfers Paradise.
She tried to flee the scene but was grabbed and stopped by security guards. Ironside was slurring her words when talking to police and unsteady on her feet.
She admitted to them she had taken ice and was found with a flick knife that she carried for “protection” from the 1.5 million people who followed her on social media.
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As of 2020 Ironside had 1.2 million followers on Facebook and a further 200,000 on Instagram.
Ironside had modelled for Zoo and Playboy and was planning on travelling to the US to be a Playboy Bunny.
Ironside was fined $2150, disqualified from driving for 13 months, ordered to pay $1624 to repair damages to tram tracks from the crash. A conviction was not recorded.
TAYLOR MCKINLEY
AN Instagram-influencer cheerleader who represented Australia on the world stage was fined $500 for crimes committed when rooftopping at a Burleigh Heads apartment building.
Taylor Mckinley, 23, pleaded guilty to trespass, wilful damage to a lift, and burglary in the Southport Magistrates Court on August 17.
The offences happened in September and October 2019.
Mckinley’s solicitor Michael Gatenby, of Gatenby Criminal Lawyers, told the court a man, whom she had met a week earlier, was the main offender.
“This is a tragic situation for my client to find herself in,” Mr Gatenby said.
TORI DARRINGTON
A SELF-DESCRIBED “private dancer” was in hot water when she punched her flatmate’s mother in the neck.
It was the second time in less than two years that Tori Uila Darrington, 23, faced court on assault charges.
The dancer pleaded guilty to common assault in Southport Magistrates Court in January last year and was fined $1000. No conviction was recorded.
Darrington’s Instagram at the time had more than 12,000 followers and links to a subscription site featuring sexually explicit videos.
She appears to have since deleted her social media accounts.
Darrington was studying law and frequently travelled overseas and to Melbourne and Sydney to dance.
AZZRA HUGHES
IN 2019, former Playboy model Azzra Hughes was caught multiple times with small amounts of drugs, including cocaine, in her possession.
When she appeared in court in January this year, she vowed to clean up her act and even spoke of having aspirations to become the next prime minister.
She had been caught four times in 18 months for drug-related charges.
Hughes was fined $1000 in January and also received a two-month driving ban.
However, she has never had a conviction recorded against her.
The former model, who has more than 70,000 followers on her Instagram account, has not been in trouble since appearing in court in January.
Hughes regularly posts model glamour shots on social media and describes herself as an adoption ambassador for the Animal Welfare League.
ADAM STEFAN BROWNER
A BODYBUILDER who has modelled for Calvin Klein was caught with a stash of steroids at his home.
Adam Stefan Browner, who won a title at the 2011 IFBB Australian Championships, pleaded guilty in the Southport Magistrates Court in August last year to seven counts of drug possession.
He had 44.5g of steroids inside his Labrador home in pill and liquid forms.
Mr Smith said Browner began bodybuilding at 22 and turned to steroids as his obsession for his physique grew.
Browner previously worked as a personal trainer and nutritionist. He was fined $2000. No conviction was recorded.
HANNAH SOFIA LOUISE MILLOTT
GOLD Coast dancer Hannah Sofia Louise Millott was caught with the drug ice in her handbag when she was searched for shoplifting earrings at Pacific Fair Shopping Centre.
The 18-year-old has more than 92,000 Instagram followers and in June last year pleaded guilty to possessing dangerous drugs and two counts of unauthorised dealing with shop goods.
Millott told police the three capsules of methamphetamine belonged to a friend.
She also took earrings from Lovisa and a “variety of items” from Victoria’s Secret.
She was fined $700.
JAXON KADE TIPPET
MODEL and personal trainer Jaxon Kade Tippet fronted a court three times in less than three years after being caught with drugs.
The Instagrammer last appeared in Southport Magistrates Court in March 2018 when he pleaded guilty to six counts of possessing dangerous drugs, two counts of driving unlicensed and one count of failing to properly dispose of a syringe.
Tippet was caught with more than 250 steroid tablets, vials of testosterone and a syringe in his jocks.
He was sentenced to $3500 for the drugs, $250 for each driving offence and disqualified from driving for 12 months. Convictions were recorded.
KATE SZEPANOWSKI
AN Instagram influencer who said she had just come from meeting up with her “sugar daddy” when she was pulled over by police was convicted of drug possession.
When police officers searched former Gold Coaster Kate Szepanowski’s car they found thousands of dollars of cash in her handbag, what they suspected to be traces of cocaine in a freezer pouch, Xanax tablets and a number of mobile phones scattered about the vehicle.
Queensland-based Szepanowski, who was 24 at the time.
Szepanowski has more than 55,000 followers on Instagram, didn’t turn up to the court proceedings at Sydney’s Downing Centre in June 2019 and was convicted in her absence.
Szepanowski was convicted on charges of possess prohibited drug for the Xanax and goods in personal custody suspected of being stolen. She was fined $350.
Kate is the sister of Chloe Szepanowski, a beauty and wellness YouTuber who has more than half a million followers on Instagram.
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