Olympic gold medallist Charlotte Lee Newbery convicted at over shoplifting

Troubled Olympic champion diver Chantelle Newbery has returned to a life of crime after being previously busted with methamphetamine and jailed for robbery.

But embarrassed, Newbery, 45, who won gold for Australia in Athens in 2004, walked free from court despite being sentenced to eight months in prison.

It was the latest in a series of convictions for the former Order of Australia Medal-winning golden girl after she faced new shoplifting charges, and her life turned from Olympic fame to petty crime.

The mother-of-two was also caught driving without a license, violating her probation, illegally using a vehicle and stealing after a prior conviction.

The gold medalist was sentenced to the long prison term of eight months at Toowoomba Magistrates Court in Queensland last Wednesday.

But the self-confessed ice addict got off the hook instantly when she was immediately released on parole, despite her long history of drug use and robbery convictions.

A court official confirmed to Daily Mail Australia: ‘Chantelle Newbery has been sentenced to eight months in prison, with an immediate parole date.’

Newbery admitted to a series of drug charges in 2014, but escaped conviction when he entered a drug diversion program.

Since then, she has faced a series of theft charges, and in 2021 she was caught in possession of an ice pipe hidden in her sunglasses case when she was arrested for shoplifting $113 worth of groceries from Woolworths and $150 at Target sheets.

At the time, Newbery pleaded guilty in Cleveland Magistrates Court to two counts of robbery and a single count of possession of drug paraphernalia.

The court was told that Newbery had previously been sentenced to an intensive four-month order of correction for stealing groceries, but he re-offended just over a week later.

Prosecutors told the court that Newbery was a serial thief and that her crimes were often premeditated.

The court heard that Newbery had previously stolen items from other locations, including Carina Heights, Woolloongabba, Ormiston, Robina Town Centre, Carindale and Helensvale.

At the time, Newbery’s attorney, Tanya Lacy, said her client was “trying really hard” to break free of her ice addiction and that she was “glad” security stopped her so she could get help.

A year earlier he had faced further charges of shoplifting from a local IGA supermarket and possession of utensils and drug paraphernalia.

Last week, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard that Newbery had been caught in July stealing groceries from Woolworths again, prompting her latest court appearance.

Newbery has previously admitted that his life took a nosedive in the wake of his Olympic glory in Athens.

In 2009, she confessed that she was suicidal and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital to be treated for severe depression.

In the years since, he spiraled into drug addiction and despair, made worse by the death of his partner Tim Walsh in 2019.

“No words… Just loss… Sadness… Devastation and lots of tears… Love you Tim,” she wrote on Facebook.

“He was one of my best friends for five years until we finally changed from friends to lovers…we didn’t get off to a great start.”

“In fact, we both fought hard (and each other) and persevered longer than most would to stay in a relationship that seemed doomed… there were sparks flying, that’s for sure! We finally found our wings and took off.” .

‘My unit feels empty and lonely without him.’

Newbery was also mourning the death of his close friend Jason Guise, whose body was found in a sewage tank in Brisbane just two months earlier.

“Nooo please don’t be dead,” Newbery posted at the time, along with a photo of the couple.

‘I don’t think you’re dead, Jason. Damn, call me now. Tell everyone they are wrong! I love you mate. Please feel good.

Newbery turned to The Salvation Army for help in the wake of the tragedies.

“Recovering after the 2019 cyclone,” Newbery’s Instagram profile reads.

The social media account is littered with photos of her late partner, her sons Jet and Ryder, along with her new partner, who she says is getting her through tough times.

‘Thank you Luke…for getting me through this difficult time…for being patient as I put on my brave pants and start living in the real world again. You’re pretty special,’ Newbery wrote on May 16.

Newbery became the first Australian female vaulter to win an Olympic medal in 80 years when she won gold in the 10-meter platform at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

He also won two gold and three silver medals at the 1998 and 2006 Commonwealth Games.

She later received an OAM and was honored in the Australian Institute of Sport Awards, ‘Best of the Best’.

Newbery’s troubles began months after her third Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, where she was unable to recapture her previous success.

She told Woman’s Day magazine in 2009 that she herself had checked into a mental hospital for chronic depression.

He also tried to take his own life twice.

In A Current Affair in 2014, Newbery discussed her struggles to be a good mother to her children after her marriage to champion diver Robert Newbery broke down.