Controversial MAFS contestant Hayley Vernon hires prominent gangland lawyer
Married At First Sight contestant Hayley Vernon took part in an anti-lockdown rally in Melbourne earlier this month and hit out at Daniel Andrews on social media. She might have thought she got away with it too — until she got a knock on her door.
Fiona Byrne
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Married At First Sight star Hayley Vernon has been slapped with a hefty fine after taking part in an anti-lockdown rally in Melbourne this month.
In a separate issue, the feisty reality TV identity has engaged Melbourne legal power house Zarah Garde-Wilson’s law firm to represent her over an unlicensed driving incident.
The high-profile Garde-Wilson represented Tony Mokbel and Carl Williams at the height of Melbourne’s underworld war and is a legal force to be reckoned with.
Vernon, an outspoken critic of Premier Daniel Andrews, mandatory mask wearing and the COVID-19 lockdown, was visited by police at her home “about a week and a half after the protest” and fined $1652 for attending the “Freedom Day” protest on September 5.
Married at First Sight star Hayley Vernon has turned out to the anti-lockdown protest
— Aneeka Simonis (@AneekaSimonis) September 5, 2020
She said people are suffering under the current state government restrictions @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/NDY0XdoTWx
The fine relates to breaching the directions of the Chief Health Officer.
The rally has not been Vernon’s only encounter with police recently. “I was caught with an expired drivers’ licence on St Kilda Road in January this year,” she said.
“I am not disputing it. I was driving without a licence and there is something else on my record that I could possibly lose my licence (over) and if I have a good lawyer I might not lose my licence.”
It is believed “something else” relates to a suspended licence in 2017.
Vernon said she was taking the matter, which is listed for court in November, seriously, hence engaging Garde-Wilson’s firm. “I just think if you are playing in a professional field it is best to have a professional to go into bat for you. I have got to go to court and I have the best in the business to represent me.’’
While Vernon is in the process of relocating to Queensland she has vowed to be back in Melbourne for her court date.
“I am actually moving because I have been offered a full-time job with a removalist company,” she said.
“I have been offered full-time employment for the first time since MAFS. I have worked (since the show aired earlier this year) but it has been on a casual basis.
“One of the other reasons why I want to move to Queensland is that it is more me. I can get back into my fitness and I don’t have to fight for basic freedoms.”
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