The Joel McIlroy: Home and Away star takes a swipe at the show as he addresses a judge as he appears in court accused of smashing a lorry window with a cricket bat
A former Home and Away star joked about the TV show while in court over a road rage incident.
Joel McIlroy – who played Flynn Saunders, the husband of Kate Ritchie’s character Sally, in Home and Away between 2003 and 2006 – appeared at Downing Center Local Court on Wednesday charged with destroying property by reason of mental health.
The former actor, who is now suffering from a terminal brain condition, accidentally smashed a truck window with a cricket bat in Sydney’s Surry Hills on July 6, with Magistrate Christine Hackett ruling his condition – Huntington’s disease -it – made him “act suddenly.” ‘.
Mr McIlroy’s lawyer told the court his client had been an actor on the Australian soap.
Magistrate Hackett said he ‘didn’t really watch Home and Away’, to which Mr McIlroy replied: ‘I don’t blame you.’
Joel McIlroy appeared in Downing Center Local Court on Wednesday where he was charged with destruction of property on mental health grounds.
The court heard the former TV star has been battling Huntington’s disease since 2007, an inherited disorder that causes parts of the brain to gradually deteriorate and die.
Mr McIlroy’s diagnosis had led to the sudden outburst after he became enraged when two drivers got into a road rage incident.
According to Daily Telegraphhis lawyer told the court that ‘(when) he perceives an injustice she causes it’.
McIlroy had bought the cricket bat shortly before the incident as an early birthday present for the son of a deceased friend.
With the knocking of the window of one of the vehicles, it “snapped” leaving Mr. McIlroy immediately remorseful and offering to pay for the damages.
“The unfortunate reality of this disease is that there are mistakes,” Mr McIlroy’s lawyer told the court.
‘it is degenerate, it is unyielding’.
The court also heard that Mr McIlroy had not been pressured for repayment as there is now a warrant against the lorry driver for a separate incident.
The former actor revealed he has ambitions to further his career after Home and Away, just like Chris Hemsworth, Heath Ledger and Isla Fisher.
He had been at the height of his popularity just a year before his diagnosis, nominated for a Silver Logie in 2006.
“I always wanted to be in the theater doing the classics but I wasn’t good enough,” Mr McIlroy told the court.
“I had this diagnosis hanging over me.”
His lawyer told the court they had never read a ‘more favorable police record’ than his client’s.
McIlroy is famous for his role as Flynn Saunders, the husband of Kate Ritchie’s character (both pictured), Sally in Home and Away between 2003 and 2006
The disease hampers Mr McIlroy’s impulse control, which led to him accidentally smashing a truck window with a cricket bat
Mr McIlroy had previous assault charges similarly dismissed under the mental health act after he assaulted a plainclothes police officer on October 22, 2019.
The strength of his medication had doubled just before the attack, further reducing his impulse control.
While facing assault charges, the court heard that Mr McIlroy had ‘significant cognitive impairment’ by 2013 and by the end of 2019, ‘all of his medical professionals note a severe and significant decline in cognitive flexibility’.
Magistrate Jennifer Giles noted that McIlroy’s doctors ‘assess the occurrence or diagnosis until death through a progressive decline in physical condition and mental functioning’.
“They estimate about 10 years for the defendant with five odd years in custody.”
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