Melbourne glamour girls gone bad: Eileen Cassidy, Illi Glover, Maria Romeo, Caitlin Nielsen and more
A model who blamed her jetsetting lifestyle for woeful driving is a Melbourne glamour girl who fell foul of the law. See the full list.
Melbourne City
Don't miss out on the headlines from Melbourne City. Followed categories will be added to My News.
An international model who blamed her jetsetting lifestyle for some woeful driving antics joins a drug linked dog groomer and a GHB dealing mum as Melbourne glamour girls who went bad.
See who else made the list.
GLAMOUR MODEL’S DIABOLIC DRIVING
High-profile model Eileen Cassidy used her international jetsetting lifestyle and VicRoads’ mailing policy as excuses for an illegal driving escapade.
Cassidy pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in October last year to multiple charges including driving while suspended.
Police, who intercepted Cassidy at South Yarra in April 2019, informed the glamour model her licence had been suspended due to a demerit point demolition.
“Ah there was a bit of an issue between VicRoads and Victoria Police both I was like going back and forth for like long time but as far as I’m concerned I’ve got it (my licence),” Cassidy told police.
Police informed Cassidy again that their database was “telling them” her licence was suspended.
“What?” she said.
The Instagram influencer was charged and her car was impounded for 30 days at a cost of almost $900.
Cassidy was back in trouble after she was nabbed using her phone while driving through a St Kilda intersection on July 16 last year.
Police spotted Cassidy, who the court heard had multiple priors stretching back to 2010, with her phone at “steering wheel” level.
Cassidy had been looking at her phone just prior to driving through the Barkly and Grey streets intersection, the court was told.
Police, who intercepted Cassidy on Barkly St, told the serial road pest she was using her phone while driving.
“No, I was playing with my rings,” Cassidy told police.
Cassidy copped a hefty fine and another four demerit points went down the drain but she elected to have the matter heard at court.
Brett Tait, for Cassidy, told the court he had “formed the view” his client had an “honest belief” her licence was not suspended.
“Miss Cassidy works as a model, as an influencer, she’s recently started her own clothing label and she does a lot of work and has done over the years in Bali, she relocated for much of that period to Bali,” he said.
“She was going backwards and forwards between Melbourne and Bali and the address her VicRoads licence advice was being sent to is a former flatmate, she wasn’t residing there, she wasn’t really residing anywhere permanently … and was receiving mail intermittently …
Cassidy was spared further loss of licence but reimposed the $496 mobile phone fine, placed on a nine-month good behaviour bond and ordered to make a $100 donation to the road trauma support service.
MUM’S HIGH-RISE GHB RACKET
Southbank mum Caitlin Nielsen peddled a dangerous party drug linked to overdoses via a DiDi delivery driver.
Nielsen was sentenced in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in March to a community correction order after pleading guilty to two charges of trafficking GHB.
Nielsen’s racket went kaput after police spotted the mum handing an envelope to a DiDi driver outside her Southbank apartment block on October 15, 2020.
Police tailed and intercepted the DiDi driver a short distance away, where they seized the envelope which contained deadly rave drug GHB.
The DiDi driver had undertaken a parcel delivery job and was not linked to the drug racket.
Investigators tracked Nielsen back to her apartment where she was arrested on October 18.
Police seized GHB analog 1,4 butanediol concealed in two bottles.
Nielsen was hauled away for questioning.
The mum told police she only used GHB when she didn’t have her son.
“Well, when I don’t have my child,” Nielsen told police.
“So it would be on a Friday night and it would probably be every second weekend.
“They told me if you just deal drugs it can make you really good money, or like attempt to.”
Nielsen also told police she paid $400 “upfront” for the deadly drug haul, which was “dropped” to her apartment.
The defence submitted Nielsen was a “good mother” who enjoyed a solid career in the car sales industry prior to suffering an injury in a motor accident.
Nielsen, who avoided a conviction, was placed on the order for 12 months.
DANCER’S LOVEBIRD DRUG RACKET
South Yarra glamour girl Maria Romeo was done for a meth and GHB trafficking racket which operated out of her apartment.
Romeo was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in January to an 18-month community correction order after pleading guilty to charges including trafficking meth.
Romeo’s partner Mitch Elliott, 36, joined her girlfriend in the sin bin after he was sentenced to a 24-month CCO after pleading guilty to trafficking meth.
Romeo and Elliott, who both pleaded guilty to trafficking 1,4 butanediol, were nabbed at their South Yarra studio apartment early on September 2, 2020.
Police stormed the apartment to find Romeo and Elliott in bed together.
Investigators also discovered a bevy of drugs, $4070 cash, a stack of counterfeit dough, fake IDs, bogus cheques, passports, an iPad, mobile phones, scales and empty deal bags.
Police seized a kilo of bute, meth, ketamine, MDMA and various steroids and prescription drugs including Xanax and Oxycodone.
Elliott, who also pleaded guilty to drug and steroid possession and dealing with the proceeds of crime, was linked to the cash haul.
Investigators discovered messages and photos which indicated Elliott and Romeo were up to their necks trafficking drugs.
Police also discovered evidence the lovebirds had used other people’s identities to “manufacture” fraudulent documents including a bogus Optus bill and dodgy salary letters.
Romeo, who also pleaded guilty to dealing with the proceeds of crime, claimed, via social media, to be a former Melbourne showgirl.
Romeo was convicted and ordered to perform 150 hours of unpaid community work with discounts for rehabilitation and treatment.
DOG GROOMER’S DRUG POSSESSION
Glamorous Melbourne dog groomer Illi Glover has spilt the beans on her accused drug dealer ex boyfriend who she claimed lured her with expensive gifts and dinner dates.
Glover was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court earlier this year after pleading guilty to cannabis possession and negligent deal with proceeds of crime
Glover fell into strife after she was arrested in Doncaster East on October 28 last year.
Police spotted Glover loading her Kia Rio with two Coles bags and driving off before she was collared on Reynolds Rd with 885 grams of cannabis and $68,810.
Glover was handed a 12-month good behaviour bond without conviction.
PARTY GIRL ROAD PEST
Melbourne party girl Meghan Young who has a deplorable driving record was warned by a magistrate she would be “suicidal” to drive a car before she got her licence back.
Young pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in October to multiple driving while suspended and refuse oral fluid test charges.
Young, who has multiple drink and drug driving priors, was spotted driving through Sandringham on September 17 last year.
Young, whose licence was suspended at the time, sped off down Beach Rd and turned into a side street after police lit her up.
Police tailed Young and discovered her empty white Mercedes parked on Red Bluff St with the tail lights on.
Young, who was discovered walking nearby, told cops a “friend” had driven her car but refused to tell police who the friend was.
Police were on to the serial road pest again when Young was spotted driving along Burnley Rd on November 3.
The court heard Young kept her Mercedes idle while police closed-in then accelerated through a roundabout.
Police caught up with and nabbed Young in Toorak where they gave her a preliminary oral fluid test.
Young, who had her Merc impounded, walked away and refused to be tested again after the prelim indicated it was possible she had drugs in her system.
Young was again nabbed driving while suspended just before 9.30pm on Christmas Day last year.
Cops caught Young doing 100km/h in an 80km/h zone along the Dingley Bypass in Heatherton.
Young denied she was speeding.
“I was not doing 101 (Km/h),” Young told police.
Police also asked Young why she refused to take a breatho.
“To be honest I can’t be f**ked,” she said.
It was almost a lengthy six months later when road menace Young was in strife with cops again.
This time Young was pinched driving while disqualified on St Kilda Rd on June 5 this year.
Young also refused to accompany police to an oral fluid testing vehicle after she again failed a preliminary test.
The road pest was nabbed again on Balaclava Rd near Hotham St on September 22 this year.
Police lit Young up but she drove off down a side street and bailed from her car.
Young, who refused to hand over her car key, also refused another oral fluid test.
Her Mercedes was impounded again.
Magistrate Robert Stary told the defence he wanted to be convinced why Young shouldn’t go to prison.
“She’s got a flagrant disregard for authority,” Magistrate Stary said.
“(Young) will need to be here on the next occasion … she’s in a grave position, I’m going to say that to you now …
“I’m going to say this to you now it will be suicidal if you drive, I’m just warning you … if you’re apprehended driving in this intervening period … then they’ll be serious consequences.”
STRIPPER’S PARTY DRUG RACKET
Former Men’s Gallery stripper Emily Arena was nabbed moving drugs at a plush city Airbnb after police revealed she moved $9000 cocaine deals.
Arena was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in September to a 12-month community correction order with conviction after pleading guilty to a rolled-up drug trafficking charge.
Arena, who pleaded guilty to trafficking, meth, cocaine and MDMA, and her former boyfriend were arrested at their Flinders Lane Airbnb on September 11 last year.
Police allege they found Arena and her former boyfriend in bed together, and a stack of cash and drugs after raiding the Flinders House apartment just after 9am.
Investigators seized meth, cocaine, MDMA, cannabis, $33,500 and a purple iPhone in a “glittery” case which belonged to Arena.
Arena’s phone contained multiple messages which linked the former exotic dancer to her drug dealing racket.
Arena, who had Covid-19 at the time of her arrest, was eventually interviewed by police on December 3.
Arena, who also pleaded guilty to deal with the proceeds of crime, claimed a bundle of about “$6000 or $7000” was her Men’s Gallery savings.
Arena told police she worked as a wholesaler then as a Men’s Gallery dancer but “work dried up during lockdown”.
Arena, who said she was living on “savings”, told police she spent $800 a week guzzling cocaine and meth daily.
MOUSETRAP MUM
A Frankston mum lured two former friends into a trap where they were savagely bashed by “burly” men in St Kilda.
Katie Terrens was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in August to an 18-month community correction order after pleading guilty to recklessly cause injury.
Terrens, who knew her victims for five years, arranged via Facebook to meet her former friends at a St Kilda property for a “catch up” just after 8.30pm on June 30, 2019.
The court heard Terrens led the victims down a shared driveway to the rear of a property where two unknown co-offenders were hiding behind a fence.
The victims, a male and a female, were attacked, taken to the ground and kicked in the face and body, the court was told.
Terrens, who was knocked to the ground, pulled the female victim’s hair and bit her cheek.
The two unknown offenders fled the scene with property belonging to a victim which included a laptop, a beach bag of clothes, jewellery and some personal cards.
Terrens, who fled the scene separately, left her phone at the property but returned shortly after to search for it.
The court heard Terrens fled again after she couldn’t find her phone.
In the meantime, multiple members of the public who heard the altercation called triple-0
Police arrived and photographed injuries sustained by the victims.
The victims were transported to hospital for treatment on their respective injuries which included fractures, bruises and a broken nose for the female.
Police, who linked Terrens to the assault via her phone, arrested the young mum at her Frankston home on November 15, 2019.
Terrens told investigators she “didn’t do that” when quizzed about the assaults.
The court heard the altercation sparked after Terrens alleged a victim sold her “tainted” drugs back in 2014 which caused her to suffer a long-term illness.
Terrens alleged the drugs contained battery acid.
The court heard Terrens, a mum, with no priors, is at TAFE and hopes to be involved in youth social work.
Terrens, who avoided a conviction, was fined $2000 and ordered to undertake rehabilitation programs and courses.
HOW GF HELPED FORMER HOON FLAME
Ex-girlfriend Zara Lunney-Adams attempted to help her former hoon ringleader flame avoid punishment for his dangerous driving antics.
Lunney-Adams was sentenced in the County Court in October to a community correction order after pleading guilty to attempt to pervert the course of justice.
Lunney-Adams helped her then boyfriend Andrew Drew pay off another to take the fall for his hooning behaviour.
Drew, who was sentenced in the County Court to a minimum nine-month jail term after pleading guilty to rolled-up incitement and reckless conduct charges, came under the watchful eye of anti-hoon cops after his distinctive Holden Commodore was spotted at several illegal street meets on November 15 last year.
Drew performed burnouts and other dangerous moves at meets at Keysborough, Knoxfield and Dandenong South.
Drew hooned his car – which at times was draped with the Mexican flag – while hundreds of spectators watched and filmed his antics.
Some spectators also ran up to Drew’s car while he and another unknown hoon performed their illegal stunts in the smoke-filled streets.
Drew, who attached a Domino’s Pizza topper to his car, also had passengers who hung out of windows while they high-fived cheering spectators.
Dandenong High Risk Driving Crew members tracked down Drew and his distinctive Commodore – bearing plates ‘RN4MUK’ – in December.
Drew conspired with Lunney-Adams to have associate Caleb Cromarty nominate himself as the driver and throw police off the scent.
Drew said he needed someone to “take the fall” for his “skid bullshit”.
Lunney-Adams, who the prosecution termed “an active participant from start to finish”, transferred $1000 to patsy Cromarty.
Drew, who also pleaded guilty to attempt to pervert the course of justice and driving while disqualified, met with Cromarty to discuss the scheme.
But Cromarty crumbled hopelessly during his police interview and Drew, who was arrested in March, finally confessed to his crimes.
Drew was jailed for a maximum 16 months.
Lunney-Adams and Cromarty – who also pleaded guilty to attempt to pervert the course of justice – were convicted and handed two-year community correction orders.
‘White Australia’ fundraiser raises $27k in just eight days
A crowd-funding page created by a controversial neo-Nazi figure has raised more than $27,000 to help “create a home for white people in Australia”.
Pictures: Victorian preppies start their first day of school
About 70,000 Victorian grade prep students have started their first year of school this week. Check back to see all the photos from primary schools across the state.