Former Bachelor contestant fronts court on drink-driving charges
A former The Bachelor contestant has told a court she is ‘horrified’ she got behind the wheel after a boozy night out in South Melbourne and shared details of her own traumatic run-in with a drink driver.
Inner South
Don't miss out on the headlines from Inner South . Followed categories will be added to My News.
Former The Bachelor contestant and aspiring actress Marlaina McPhillips has pleaded guilty to drink driving.
The former Alannah and Madeline Foundation fundraising co-ordinator was pinged for being over the limit during a random breath test in Gardenvale in December last year.
McPhillips, 32, had been on her way back from a boozy night with friends at the lavish Albion Hotel in South Melbourne, which is part-owned by former Collingwood star Dane Swan.
The Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court heard McPhillips had consumed four glasses of red wine over about five hours and “didn’t believed I would be over the limit”.
Her defence lawyer Dimitrios Dounis told the court McPhillips was “suitably horrified” to be caught drink driving and had experienced “deep remorse and shame” over the incident.
Mr Dounis said a “traumatic” run-in with a drink driver during McPhillips’ childhood had left a lasting impression and prompted her to seek help from her psychologist just two days after she was charged by police.
When she was 10, McPhillips had been in a neighbours’ car with her younger siblings when a drunk driver ploughed into their 4WD, flipping it and causing severe injuries to her brother, who was just six years old at the time.
Mr Dounis said watching her little brother have to learn to walk again as a result of the crash “has impacted on her life ever since”.
“If ever there was situation which would arise where she was in a group of friends and they’d been drinking, she’d be the one to take the keys away from her friends who might have been tempted to drive,” he said.
“That’s the importance she places upon … doing the right thing.”
After being booted from The Bachelor in episode three, McPhillips started working as a receptionist at the Bond Street Dental Clinic in South Yarra before her shifts dried up as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Dounis said aside from her acting aspirations, McPhillips also wanted to join Fire Rescue Victoria but any criminal conviction could crush that dream.
Magistrate Victoria Campbell said McPhillips had shown genuine remorse and it was clear she “did not intend to drink and drive that night”.
“Quite simply, these things happen … nonetheless, there is no defence and you will lose your licence today,” she said.
“I can see that this has affected you greatly, particularly in light of that dreadful accident you experienced as a child.”
McPhillips was sentenced to the mandatory minimum six months loss of licence and fined $800 without conviction.
MORE:
ACCUSED DAILY PLANET DRUG TRAFFICKER FACES MORE CHARGES
ST KILDA TREEHOUSE TORN DOWN IN FRONT OF CRYING CHILDREN
PARKDALE MUM’S ‘SOPHISTICATED’ IDENTITY THEFT SCHEME REVEALED