In some grim news, the very privileged daughter of a leading Australian politician has been charged with the murder of a drug dealer.
Harriet Wran, 26, was brought up into great privilege as the daughter of Neville Wran, the former Premier of New South Wales. After going to prestigious private schools and studying modern history at Sydney University, she was set to inherit some of the $40m (£22.3m) left behind by her father following his death in April.
However, life isn’t always how it seems on paper, and she was apparently ‘numb’ on crystal meth when she and two men, who have also been charged, went to dealer Daniel McNulty’s block of flats for a $70 (£39) drug deal. She, 35-year-old Michael Lee and Lloyd Edward Haines, 29, were said to have broken into McNulty's block, Lee armed with a knife, before having a heated argument with the dealer about buying drugs.
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In the ensuing tussle, McNulty was stabbed twice and died from his wounds. A witness, Brett Fitzgerald, was also injured and is now in hospital recovering, reports The Australian.
Come 2012, she was living in what the landlord said was a ‘crack den’ littered with pipes, cigarette cartons dirty dishes and clothes strewn everywhere. He told The Sydney Morning Herald under the condition of anonymity that she’d told him she was working as a TV presenter. She’s pleading innocent of charges of murder, attempted murder and breaking and entering while armed with a knife.
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According to ABC, top barrister Winston Terracini will argue that Wran was simply involved in a desperate drug deal gone wrong ‘Harriet Wran’s legal team will allege that she has been battling an ice addiction and had relapsed after her father’s death in April. It is alleged she’s been living on the streets penniless for several weeks.
‘She claims to have only met her co-accused Lloyd Haines that day while she was with Michael Lee trying to score more drugs.’
When asked for a comment, her mother told ABC: ‘I can hardly walk, let alone talk’.
Wran didn’t apply for bail, and is due back in court in October.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.