Ex-reality TV star’s bid for fake certificate charges to be dismissed

A disgraced former reality TV star will apply to have her charges dismissed on mental health grounds after she admitted to falsifying medical certificates to avoid reporting to police. Jordan Finlayson appeared in the Sydney Downing Centre Local Court on Friday after pleading guilty to four counts of using a false document to influence the exercise of public duty. The 32-year-old was a contestant on reality TV show Beauty and the Geek in 2011 before her meth-fuelled fall from grace, which culminated in her being charged with driving while on drugs last year. She was required to report to police three times a week as a condition of her bail. Yet the former NRL cheerleader produced fake medical certificates from multiple doctors in order to avoid attending the police station. On Friday, she wore a silky black blouse and pants with towering beige heels as she fronted court to be sentenced for falsifying the documents. However, her lawyer Ben Wilcox told the court that he would be applying for the charges to be dismissed on mental health grounds. He asked for an adjournment to allow him to obtain the supporting documentation to allow the application to proceed. Mr Wilcox said Finlayson had been “quite overwhelmed with the costs” of attending a psychologist to obtain a mental health report required for the move to dismiss the charges. She would attend her usual doctor within the next few weeks to obtain a medical report, he informed the court. Magistrate Brett Shields adjourned the former professional dancer’s matter until late May and continued her bail. On at least four occasions, the agreed facts show she presented police with certificates stating she was unfit to attend the station on the days she was required to report to police. The documents were accepted as legitimate until police raided Finlayson’s hotel room months later and found multiple certificates on phones. Police were subsequently granted digital access to her phone to determine the authenticity of the certificates. However, the former Penthouse model provided erroneous access codes after claiming she couldn’t remember the PIN. After Finlayson finally provided the right code, detectives found multiple certificates on the phone in different fonts. Doctors and staff who were named on the documents confirmed they had only provided certificates for some of Finlayson’s absences.