A Sydney escort has been charged with manslaughter over the death of beloved tradie

A private school-trained escort with a science degree has been charged with the death of a trader who was mysteriously discovered lying in the stairwell of a Sydney apartment building.

Celia Bean, 39, has been charged with manslaughter following the death of former reality TV contestant Paul Browne more than a year after his body was discovered in October 2021.

Before becoming an escort, Bean was a horse-loving student at the exclusive Frensham School, in the NSW Southern Highlands, an all-girls school costing $35,000 a year.

“To the best times I’ve known and to my sweet teddy bear I’ll never see again…… I love you,” Ms. Bean shared on her Facebook account in 2019 alongside a photo next to her childhood horse.

After school Mrs. Bean went to the University of Sydney, graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science degree. She also embarked on a postgraduate course in education at the nearby University of Technology Sydney.

On her Linkedin account, Ms. Bean said that while she has an “extensive knowledge of administrative environments,” she is working toward a career in neuroscience to “use my degree.”

Celia Bean (pictured) in May 2004 at a dressage event in Frensham

However, in the decade following her graduation, she worked as a corporate receptionist, in a supermarket, and more recently as a “temporary worker” rather than in a scientific position.

Paul Browne’s body (with pit) was found in a Sydney stairwell in 2021

Strike Force Bernacchi was set up to investigate Mr Browne’s death, with Detective Phil Hallinan saying the alleged victim’s family was ‘devastated’.

Police allege 33-year-old Browne, a beloved construction manager, died of a drug overdose after consuming heroin and methamphetamine, which Ms Bean and her friend Shayne Johnson organized to supply to him.

The tradie is said to have driven from his home in the neighboring suburb to Ms Bean’s apartment building on October 7, 2021.

More than 19 hours later, his body was found in a stairwell, police say.

Ms. Bean and Johnson – also known as ‘Teece’ – were arrested before Christmas and continue to appear in court.

The pair have been denied bail and are due to appear in Downing Center Local Court on May 25.

A forensic pathologist previously told Parramatta local court that Mr Browne might have survived if medical attention had been given earlier.

In a text exchange between Ms Bean and Mr Johnson, police allege the couple tried to distance themselves from the incident and claimed not to be responsible for Mr Browne’s death.

A fresh-faced Celia at a racing event before her life went into a tailspin

The revelation comes as footage of Mr Browne auditioning for the X-Factor singing show in 2011, which showed the construction worker in high spirits and laughing as he performed a Robbie Williams ballad.

When his audition was labeled “terrible” by all four judges, the young man said it was probably because “my mouth is a little dry” and “the song wasn’t in my key.”

Isaac Parry, Mr Browne’s mate, said in November 2021 that he is “100 per cent sure” the tradie was partying – a euphemism for drug sharing – with Ms Bean rather than using her sexual services.

Mr Browne was just 22 when he had the guts to play Robbie Williams’ ‘Angels’ on stage as part of an X-Factor audition in 2011

“I honestly don’t think he was there to pay for sex,” Mr Parry told Daily Mail Australia in an exclusive interview in 2021.

“He would have partied as friends with an escort.

“He was a handsome boy.”