Stevie-Leigh Pich fronted Waverley Local Court on Wednesday to be sentenced for driving a vehicle with an illicit drug present in her system earlier this year. It was a negative turn for the 25-year-old, who previously made international headlines when she claimed she was still in a relationship with Love Island UK star Connor Durman when he applied for the show in 2020.Pich, who has more than 20,000 Instagram followers, tested positive for cocaine use during a roadside drug test in Sydney’s east in January. She was stopped while driving her VW Golf along Bunnerong Rd in Hillsdale. The UK resident returned a negative result for alcohol but tested positive for cocaine. Pich told officers she “hadn’t done it for two weeks”. After being issued a court attendance notice, Pich failed to appear in court and was convicted in her absence. She was fined $1500 and disqualified from driving for six months. The Instagram influencer immediately filed to have the conviction overturned but maintained her plea of guilty. Three days before her first court appearance, the influencer shared a photo to her 20,000 Instagram followers with the caption “as innocent as they come”. On Wednesday, Waverley Court heard Pich had suffered a “large degree of guilt and shame” for the offence. Her lawyer Hisham Karnib told the court the 25-year-old suffered anxiety and depression, for which she was being treated. “I won’t go so far as to say she has a mental health condition,” he said. “It’s something she’s seeking treatment for now.”Magistrate Ross Hudson noted Pich had 15 speeding offences in the last 18 months, although she had not committed any further offences since driving with cocaine in her system in January. In a letter to the court, she wrote “I take this incredibly seriously and I’m incredibly disappointed with myself for not considering that they would still be in my system”.Magistrate Hudson decided not to convict the glamorous 25-year-old, instead imposing a conditional release order which would prohibit her from committing further offences. He warned her to address her relationship with drugs and not to return to court. “You say you don’t have a problem with drugs. I must say I beg to differ. Once bitten, twice shy,” he said.“Don’t expect to come back to any court in this state and have any further leniency that what you’ve just had.”
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