Mental health ‘crisis’: Sydney radio host Sandilands’ girlfriend avoids criminal penalties for cop assault

Kyle Sandilands’ girlfriend has been spared a criminal penalty for assaulting a police officer during a public fight with the radio host because she was struggling with a mental health “crisis.”

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The troubled girlfriend of Sydney radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands was suffering from a mental health “crisis” during a drug-fuelled cop-slapping incident, and now wants to get on with her life.

Earlier this year Tegan Kynaston pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer while high on cocaine after a roadside lover’s spat with the 48-year-old in Bondi in December.

The 34-year-old was spared criminal penalties and was instead diverted to mental health treatment at Waverley Local Court on Tuesday, and her lawyer says “she’s happy its over.”

Tegan Kynaston outside Waverley Local Court today. Picture: Toby Zerna

Magistrate Allison Hawkins said Kynaston had no history of violence and her actions “perhaps highlight the notion that one cannot see through the exterior the issues a person is facing.”

“Things were at something of a crisis point for you and there were things going on in your life that people probably never see,” she said.

Defence solicitor Greg Gould successfully applied for Kynaston’s charges to be dealt with under section 32 of the mental health act, and said she hoped to never return to court again.

“She’s really happy that the proceedings are now finished and she can get on with her life quietly,” he said outside court.

Mr Gould said his client recently personally delivered an apology letter to the officer she slapped in the face

hours after the couple attended the KIIS FM Christmas party.

“She understands the difficulties police have in conducting their duties and she doesn’t want to cause any more inconvenience,” he said.

Kynaston sent Sandilands a barrage of angry texts before her confrontation with police: Picture: Richard Dobson

Magistrate Hawkins chose not to detail reports from two doctors and a psychologist, who all agreed Kynaston suffers from an anxiety disorder and “other subsidiary disorders.”

“I am also very conscious of the fact that the further exposure of those issues could be harmful for her,” she said.

“You have made, I wont say a lot of effort, but you’ve certainly taken the right direction… (towards) what doctors have proposed.”

Mr Gould said Kynaston needs the support of medical professionals, adding: “there’s clearly a history here that goes back a long way.”

Kynaston has been dating Sandilands for several months but she sent the KIIS FM broadcaster a barrage of angry texts before her confrontation with police, court documents show.

Sandilands told officers that Kynaston had previously attempted self-harm and showed them text messages she’d sent that morning stating "U are a coward", “you are the worst” and “I hate u.”

The communications director of Sandilands’ company King Kyle later allegedly told a paramedic she had snorted three grams of cocaine before the bizarre roadside dispute.

Kynaston tried to exit Sandilands’ moving Bentley on Beach Road before police were called in the early hours of December 7.

Kyle Sandilands new girlfriend Tegan Kynaston. Picture: Facebook

Police told the Bellevue Hill woman she would be put in an ambulance and detained for a mental health assessment for her own safety when she hit the female constable in the head with an open palm, court documents show.

Kynaston later told the officer: “I am sorry for hitting you — I just took all my anger out on you”, police facts state.

After the incident a bystander said police helped Sandilands fix the damaged door of his $350,000 black Bentley so he could drive off.

Sandilands was recently forced to cop a pay cut alongside his co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson due to the COVID-19 crisis after the pair landed Australia’s biggest radio deal in October.

Originally published as Mental health ‘crisis’: Sydney radio host Sandilands’ girlfriend avoids criminal penalties for cop assault