Australian Idol winner Kate DeAraugo in court over drug and weapons charges
WINNER of Australian Idol 2005 Kate DeAraugo has apologised outside a Bendigo court in regional Victoria for getting behind the wheel high on drugs.
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TROUBLED pop star Kate DeAraugo has apologised outside court for getting behind the wheel high on drugs.
The Australian Idol winner for 2005 appeared briefly in Bendigo Magistrates Court this morning charged with drugs and weapons offences.
The court heard she intends to plead guilty to drug driving, possessing ice and possessing a knife and tomahawk.
She also plans to plead guilty to breaching her bail.
A drug trafficking charge was struck out, the court heard.
Sitting with her head down looking at her hands in her lap, DeAraugo did not say anything throughout the hearing.
Charge sheets, released from the court, reveal DeAraugo was found in possession of ice when stopped by police in Shepparton on June 15.
An oral fluid sample also revealed she had the drug in her system.
Two controlled weapons — a “large bladed knife” and a tomahawk axe — were also allegedly found in her possession.
She was bailed on strict conditions, but the following month breached it by being in Kyabram and not at her Strathdale home between 11pm and 7am on July 24.
Asked by the Herald Sun if she was sorry for her actions, as she raced from court to a waiting car, she said: “Of course, I’m sorry.”
The 31-year-old has previously spoken of her mental health and addiction battles.
DeAraugo rose to fame as the winner of hit reality series Australian Idol in 2005 and went on to be part of the Young Divas musical group, with other Idol contestants, Paulini Curuenavuli, Ricki-Lee Coulter and Emily Williams.
Paulini, who currently stars in hit musical The Bodyguard, has faced her own legal woes, pleading guilty earlier this month to bribing a Roads and Maritime Services employee with $850 for a fake license.
The license allowed her to drive illegally on NSW roads for a year, during which time she racked up 11 driving offences.
DeAraugo’s latest court appearance comes a day after Coulter spoke out on The Daily Edition yesterday about the troubles of her former band mates.
She described the situation as “so sad”.
“It’s so sad seeing everything that is kind of going on with them and I think people forget that people that are in the public eye, they have struggles too.”
DeAraugo remains on bail and will reappear in Bendigo Magistrates Court on November 15.