‘I just want to get on with my life’: Former Block star Suzi Taylor speaks after prison release
Former Block star Suzi Taylor has spoken about what she wants to do with her life after she was released from prison tonight.
Former Block star Suzi Taylor has defiantly railed against the justice system just moments after her release from prison.
Beaming, laughing and posing for pictures in a flash of cameras, Ms Taylor briefly addressed waiting media outside Brisbane Magistrates Court after a raft of criminal charges against her were dropped by police.
Even after her time in jail, she still joked about hitting the town as photographers and reporters questioned her outside the court.
Ms Taylor told media she was “relieved” and planned to move on with her life with her legal woes over.
“18 months ago I was charged and arrested for a crime I did not commit,” she said.
“In Australia, you are deemed innocent until proven guilty.
“I was wrongly charged (but) I’m free now - I’m ecstatic.”
When asked if she would be taking legal action, Ms Taylor said she “hadn’t got that far”.
“I feel I was unjustly attacked and made to look guilty, just by me being my silly self,” she said outside court.
“People made me look guilty in the media with false accusations and lies and untruths.
“That didn’t help my case.
“I just want to get on with my life now and start afresh.”
Ms Taylor, whose real name is Suellen Jan Taylor, had spent more than 200 days in custody plus a month in solitary confinement.
She was facing more than 100 charges including multiple breaches of bail, but prosecutors and her lawyer Michael Gatenby ultimately negotiated to drop more than 70 charges.
She had initially been bailed after being charged with offences including deprivation of liberty, assault occasioning bodily harm, fraud and attempted fraud with another man, Ali Ebrahimi, over allegations they extorted a man during an escort date gone wrong.
Both Ms Taylor and Mr Ebrahimi were ultimately found not guilty on those charges by a District Court jury last month.
On Thursday, she pleaded guilty to almost 30 charges including possessing small amounts of cocaine and cannabis, driving over the alcohol limit and trespassing.
Taylor, 50, sat quietly through proceedings and cried in the dock.
The court was told her offending began in October 2019 after she drove a car that had been taken from its owner.
She became involved in an accident in the car but did not remain at the scene.
Police stopped her driving the wrong way down a one-way street, noting she did not have a licence.
Taylor was also charged with trespassing after she was found on a neighbour’s balcony without consent and stealing sunglasses.
She was also charged with possessing cocaine, marijuana and drug utensils.
The court was told her multiple breaches of bail stemmed from episodes of failing to report, comply with the conditions and live at the required address.
During her sentencing, Mr Gatenby ultimately submitted she not be punished on some of the matters due to the 202 days she had already spent in pre-sentence custody.
He said Taylor’s stealing charge arose from a family member loaning her a pair of sunglasses before reporting them as stolen to police.
Her unlicensed driving charge arose after she agreed to drive her friend’s car as a favour.
Mr Gatenby said his client had been “vilified” by constant media reports.
“She is a person who finds it very difficult to comply with those (bail) conditions, not because she doesn’t want to, but because she can’t,” he said.
Mr Gatenby said his client had several medical conditions including depression and anxiety, suffered seizures and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The court was told Ms Taylor had secured work at a dress shop, and Mr Gatenby said she would be able to get on with her life without the stress of bail conditions hanging over her head.
She was convicted but not further punished by Magistrate Stephen Courtney, who also ordered she be disqualified from driving for three months.
Mr Gatenby told media it had been a “horrendous” time for his client, who had spent more than 200 days behind bars for something “she didn’t commit”.
“I think there should be an inquiry into the way the state treats people with mental illness,” he said.
“People that are vulnerable shouldn’t be remanded in custody, and unfortunately, we seem to have a habit of locking people up because they can’t find somewhere to live.
“One of the things that’s really surprised me about Suzi is that she isn’t bitter.
“She is just getting on with things.
“She just wants to see her family, particularly her children.”