Chantelle Lee Newbery’s dive into drug use ends in stealing groceries and a jail term

The 45-year-old gold medalist had walked out of a shopping centre with a trolley full of groceries without paying.

A former Olympic gold medalist diver who fell into ice addiction following a divorce and death of her new partner has narrowly avoided actual jail time after appearing in Toowoomba Magistrates Court.

Chantelle Lee Newbery pleaded guilty before the court on Wednesday to stealing $383 worth of groceries from the Clifford Gardens Woolworths store on July 28, 2022.

Police prosecutor Anita Page said Newbery had simply walked out of Woolworths with a shopping trolley full of groceries, later telling police she was staying with her sister and they had no food at home and no money to pay for it.

Chantelle Lee Newbery

The 45-year-old, who won a gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games in the 10m platform diving event, also pleaded guilty to unlicensed driving, SPER suspended, on December 5, 2022, in Toowoomba.

Ms Page said Newbery was subject to probation at the time of the offending and submitted for a term of imprisonment as she had a history of like offending.

However, Newbery’s solicitor Alysha Jacobsen, of Bouchier Khan Lawyers, told the court her client had the care of her 18-month-old niece and that if she went to jail the child would have to be put into care.

Ms Jacobsen said her client had suffered homelessness in the past but had stable accommodation in Redbank Plains now for her and the child in her care.

Newbery had turned to drug use after a divorce followed by the death of her new partner and the death of her mother, she said.

Magistrate Kay Phillipson said by reports put before the court Newbery’s response to probation had been “extremely poor” and that the only thing saving her from going to jail was the care of the young child.

“You really need to turn things around,” Ms Phillipson told Newbery, warning her it was her last chance.

Newbery was sentenced to eight months in jail but released on immediate parole and disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for one month.