Wednesday's Quicky: Michelle Bridges' plea for leniency, Oatlands boy opens eyes, & 3yo found dead.

1. Michelle Bridges pleads guilty for mid-range drink driving.

Celebrity trainer and TV personality Michelle Bridges pleaded guilty yesterday to mid-range drink driving after blowing 0.086 while driving in Sydney’s Bellevue Hill on January 26 with her five-year-old son in the car.

Waverley Local Court magistrate Allison Hawkins convicted Bridges, handed her a $750 fine and accepted the incident was humiliating for her.

Bridges’ licence was disqualified for three months and she will have to drive with an alcohol interlock for one year from April 26.

Agreed facts state Bridges hit her brakes suddenly and changed lanes when approaching a random breath test on New South Head Road about 11.30am on January 26.

She first told police she had used mouthwash five minutes earlier, but then conceded she had drunk alcohol the previous night.

 

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A post shared by Michelle Bridges (@mishbridges) on Dec 29, 2019 at 4:54pm PST

After giving a positive alcohol reading roadside, Bridges told police she had drunk a glass of wine and four vodka sodas from 8pm the previous night.

Bridges, who rose to fame as a personal trainer on TV show The Biggest Loser, now writes books and magazine columns and runs an activewear brand.

Her lawyer argued Bridges was a “special person” and should be treated as such by the court. However, the magistrate did not agree.

“So logically a person who has achieved less in life is not as entitled to court leniency?” Ms Hawkins asked.

“I’m saying justice is individual,” the lawyer replied.

The magistrate noted Bridges lacked a criminal history, had a good driving record and had experienced “entirely appropriate remorse and shame”.

But Ms Hawkins said there had to be consequences for her offending.

The fitness trainer apologised outside court to “my family, my friends and my community for this gross error in judgment”.

“The consequences of these actions will haunt me forever,” Bridges said.

2. 11-year-old hit in Oatlands crash that killed four children shows signs of stirring.

11-year-old Charbel Kassas has started to open his eyes, three weeks after the crash that killed three of his cousins.

Abdallah siblings Sienna, eight, Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13, died alongside their 11-year-old cousin Veronique Sakr, when a drunk driver veered into them on February 1 as they walked to get ice-cream in Sydney’s Oatlands.

Charbel remains in a coma, with significant injuries to his spine and brain, but he has started to show signs of recovery.

"He’s had moments of opening and closing his eyes and his doctors say that he can hear bits and pieces," Rimonda Abi Zeid wrote on the GoFundMe page created to raise money for the little boy.

"The full extent of his injuries are still unknown - so far we know his critical injuries include a broken spine and legs.

"At this stage, it is unclear when he’ll wake from his coma. There are multiple phases of a coma and he is currently in the beginning stages. Charbel has a long road ahead of him," the update reads.

Charbel's parents don't have access to Medicare, as they've only been in Australia a short time.

At the time of writing, $156,703 has been raised for Charbel's care.

READ: "I can't leave you darling." The crash that killed four children and left a community grieving.

3. Three-year-old boy found dead on daycare minibus in Queensland.

A three-year-old boy has been found dead on a minibus parked outside a school in Queensland.

The child was found about 3.15pm on Tuesday by the bus driver in the Cairns suburb of Edmonton, Queensland Police said.

Sadly a three-year-old boy has been located deceased on a mini-bus in Cairns this afternoon. https://t.co/TxPrdc4uvO pic.twitter.com/RFW3ueuHM0

— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) February 18, 2020

The minibus, operated by childcare provide Goodstart Early Learning, was parked outside Hambledon State School.

It's believed the childcare centre he was being taken to was just down the road from the school.

"We're just trying to work out exactly what's happened between now and when he should have been delivered to the daycare centre," Inspector Jason Smith told Nine.

Goodstart Early Learning said it was "devastated by the death of a child in our care", the ABC reported.

Detectives from the Child Protection Investigation Unit are investigating.

With AAP.

Feature image: AAP

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