Olympic gold medallist Chantelle Newbery’s dramatic fall from grace continues as she’s accused of committing 19 fresh drug-related crimes – and has had court dates every month for the last two years.

The one-time diving champion, 49, faced Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday over alleged offences including drug possession, possession of pipes or utensils, stealing, driving under the influence, and failure to appear in court.

Other charges include driving without a licence, possessing property suspected of being used in relation to a drug offence, and unlawfully possessing a relevant substance.

She was remanded in custody and has not yet entered a plea.

Newbery was hailed a hero when she won Australia’s first Olympic diving gold medal at Athens in 2004 and was named Best of the Best by the Australian Institute of Sport in 2006. 

But her life has fallen apart in the decades since. Her criminal record dates back to 2014, with most of charges drug-related.

Court records also show she has had at least one matter in court every month since August 2024. 

Daily Mail previously revealed Newbery kept her medals at her lawyer Robert Burns’ office to stop drug-addict friends from stealing them.

Chantelle Newbery is pictured outside her home in Brisbane’s west in 2023

Newbery put a nappy in the rubbish bag, and left it outside the granny flat where she lived with her niece

Chantelle Newbery on the dais after winning gold at the 2004 Olympics 

In 2023 – just months after telling Toowoomba Magistrates Court that she filled a wheelie bag with groceries from Woolworths because there was ‘no food or money’ – she appeared to be trying to get her life back on track.

She was living with her two-year-old niece in a granny flat behind a small rental property in Brisbane’s outer western suburbs, with Mr Burns telling the Mail at the time that Newbery ‘detests’ the life she fell into.

He said Newbery had not developed the means to pull herself out of a drug-addled world ‘that has become a normal existence for her’, but he believed she could be rehabilitated. 

‘It became evident that she wasn’t getting the support that she needed – she needed help, and she needed stability. She’s a good person with a heart of gold.

‘She’s a very intelligent and a very well-meaning person and she was in a cycle that she found hard to break free from.’

In a written reference to the court in 2023, he wrote: ‘Chantelle was once at the pinnacle of celebrity, having achieved a gold medal in the Athens Olympics.’

‘I hold Chantelle’s medals and awards in my office to keep them safe as she was fearful drug associates would steal them.’

Court documents previously seen by the Mail said Newbery went to discuss her mental health with a GP in December 2021, but she decided they couldn’t help her. 

After retiring from diving in 2008, Chantelle Newbery became suicidal and self-medicated

Chantelle Newbery (pictured with a former boyfriend) has tried to fix her life up, but keeps winding up back in court

She was eventually cut from an addiction recovery program because she failed to collect suboxone – a prescription drug used to treat opioid addiction.

Newbery later tested positive for methamphetamine, amphetamine and buprenorphine.

She has repeatedly been caught shoplifting from stores across Queensland, including one occasion where she tried to hide a stolen ice pipe in her sunglasses case, and has been jailed for theft and drug charges dating back 12 years.

In 2014, she appeared in Cleveland Magistrate’s Court for possessing dangerous drugs and failing to properly dispose of a needle and syringe.

She then appeared in Brisbane Magistrate’s Court in 2015 for unauthorised dealing with shop goods – which means she either consumed goods inside a store without paying, or altered a price tag in-store.

In 2016, she breached a domestic violence order and was fined $600. She also breached bail, committed burglary, and unlawfully used a vehicle.

Newbery became the first Australian diver to win an Olympic medal in 80 years when she won gold in the 10 metre platform at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

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

Chantelle Newbery, 45, and her ex-husband Robert, 44, (pictured) were the toast of Australia when the squeaky-clean pin-up couple both won medals for diving at Athens 2004

Pictured: Chantelle Newbery dives during the 10m platform semifinal on August 21, 2004

She was later awarded an OAM but Newbery’s struggles began months after her third Olympics in Beijing in 2008, where she failed to recapture her previous success.

She told Woman’s Day magazine in 2009 she had admitted herself to a psychiatric hospital for chronic depression.

She also attempted to take her own life twice.

On A Current Affair in 2014 Newbery spoke of her struggles to be a good mother to her children after her marriage to fellow diving champion Robert Newbery broke down.

Newbery previously admitted that winning gold at Athens was the greatest moment in her life, but it was difficult to cope with post-Olympic blues.

‘A lot of athletes struggle after the Olympics,’ Newbery said.

‘You’re working your whole life towards a goal and then whether you achieve that goal or you don’t, It comes to an end.

‘It’s a big change in your life and I think we all struggle with it.’

Newbery will face court again on September 17.