Cover girl attacked in jail

Hearing told of ‘harrowing’ stint behind bars

FORMER cover girl Suzi Taylor was left bloodied and bruised after she was attacked by another inmate during her “harrowing” time behind bars, a court has been told.

Brisbane-born Taylor, 49, a mother-of-three from Currumbin, told the Supreme Court in Brisbane that she fell to the floor when she was punched in the face outside her cell at Brisbane Women’s Prison on November 25, just three weeks into her stint.

She suffered bruising to her nose, under her eyes and bleeding from her gums, Taylor (pictured) told the court in a statement filed as part of her successful bid for bail on December 16.

Prison officers photographed her facial injuries after the alleged assault, and a doctor and dentist examined her before she moved to another unit, court documents stated.

Taylor, who once dated INXS frontman Michael Hutchence and partied with league star Greg Inglis, told the court that she wanted the woman who attacked her to be charged, but she had been unable to file her complaint with police while she was behind bars.

“The time I have spent in custody has been an extremely harrowing experience for me,” Taylor told Justice Debra Mullins in her written statement. “It is truly the lowest point of my life.”

Taylor told the court she had worked in the modelling industry and the media “on and off” since she was 16 years of age.

“I hope to continue to work in these industries when I am released from custody and after these charges are finalised,” Taylor said.

Taylor, who grew up on the Gold Coast, was applying for bail on 15 charges, including for breaking into a Brisbane home, stealing a Canon camera and lenses, two computers, two guitars and a car between October 18 and October 21.

She was also accused of hitting a police officer when they tried to arrest her and put her in the back of a police car after she was found driving the allegedly stolen car.

Police intercepted Taylor about 1.50am on October 20 when police saw her driving the wrong way down a oneway street after she allegedly rear-ended another car at an intersection, and she had failed to stop and exchange details with the other driver. Police allege Taylor was unable to identify the owner of the car, telling police that someone had let her borrow it, and she was driving while unlicensed.

Taylor was also charged with driving with alcohol present in her system after she blew a reading of 0.048 per cent, when she must be totally sober while unlicensed.

Police also allege that after Taylor was released by police she returned to the car, which had been seized by police, and she broke in and stole two bags of items.

Taylor plans to fight the charges, her lawyer told the court. She is due back in Brisbane Magistrates Court on these charges on February 5.

Only three months earlier, Taylor was fined $2500 for stealing a credit card from a patient at the Mater Hospital to buy $438 worth of alcohol – including a carton of Coopers beer – from the Shafston Hotel bottle shop.

She also admitted using the stolen card to buy $120.80 worth of items from a BP service station near the hospital, where her boyfriend, 36-yearold Brisbane landscaper Jonathan Gregory-Kelly, was receiving treatment.

The card was stolen from a patient recovering in the same room.

The court recorded no conviction.

Taylor told the court she filed for divorce six years ago and that her three children lived with their father.