Key points
- New charges of drug- and unlicensed-driving could see actor Vince Colosimo do jail time.
- Colosimo was previously warned he risked being jailed if he committed more offences of this nature.
- Colosimo is presently at the Cannes Film Festival, and his lawyer told Melbourne Magistrates’ Court he planned to plead guilty to the new charges.
- The prosecution is planning to submit that the actor should be jailed for the new offences when the matter returns to court in July.
Actor Vince Colosimo is in Cannes but could end up in prison soon after returning to Melbourne after his lawyer told a court the Underbelly star planned to plead guilty to another drug-driving charge.
Colosimo’s case went before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday where his lawyer, George Vassis, asked that the matter proceed as a plea hearing for charges of drug-driving and unlicensed driving, even though the 55-year-old star was overseas.
Vince Colosimo and partner Sabella Sugar in Paris last weekend.Credit:Instagram
Judicial registrar Leah Hickey was prepared to hear the case even though Colosimo wasn’t present, until prosecutor Bianca Moleta said the actor needed to face court given she would push for a jail term.
“This matter should be heard with the accused present. The accused does have relevant priors and a term of imprisonment is on the cards,” Moleta said.
Colosimo was warned in 2017 by sentencing magistrate David Starvaggi he ran the risk of being jailed if he faced court again for drug-driving offences. Starvaggi at the time fined Colisimo $3500 and cancelled his licence for driving with ice in his system. He warned “it won’t be pretty” if the actor reoffended.
Colosimo is now charged with drug-driving and unlicensed driving after he was arrested in April last year and had his car impounded. Details of his offending are yet to be heard in court.
Vince Colosimo and then lawyer Tara Hartnett outside Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in 2017.Credit:Joe Armao
Vassis on Friday told the judicial registrar Colosimo’s prior offending wouldn’t “present an issue”, and that the lawyer was “somewhat surprised” by the prosecutor’s submission for jail.
Vassis told The Age Colosimo was at the Cannes Film Festival. The actor is reportedly helping pitch a proposed movie project set in country Victoria.
Vince Colosimo in the 2022 season of Celebrity Apprentice.Credit:Nine
Colosimo’s partner, Sabella Sugar, posted photographs of the couple in Paris last weekend on social media.
Best known for his roles as gangster Alphonse Gangitano in the original Underbelly series, Colosimo has also featured in the successful Australian films Lantana and Chopper and been a regular on television screens since the 1990s.
He is currently on the cast of Celebrity Apprentice.
Colosimo’s case is due to return to court on July 14.
His management have been contacted for comment.
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