Former reality TV star’s tears after fooling cops with fake medical certificates

An “extremely remorseful” embattled former reality TV personality wiped away tears as she avoided jail for fraud and drug offences in what she described as her “last chance”. Jordan Ray Finlayson wore a black dress, black blazer with beige heels as she faced Sydney Downing Centre Local Court on Friday to be sentenced for a litany of fraud and drug offences. The 33-year-old was a contestant on reality TV show Beauty and the Geek in 2011 before a descent into drugs, which culminated in her arrest last year for driving with ice in her system. The former NRL cheerleader was subsequently released on bail under strict conditions which required her to report to police three times a week. However, police discovered she had falsified four medical certificates to avoid attending the police station as required. Officers thought the documents were legitimate until they were granted access to her phone and uncovered multiple medical certificates with obvious discrepancies. Finlayson’s lawyer Matthew Eurell said his client accepted that doctoring the certificates to avoid complying with a court order amounted to “very serious offences”. “Ms Finlayson accepts what she did was wrong,” he said. “She is extremely remorseful”. He asked the court to take into consideration that Finlayson committed the offences during “a time of great difficulty in her life”. “She was (struggling with) great drug addiction, she was self medicating, and she certainly wasn’t clear of mind,” Mr Eurell said. The former model cited “toxic relationships” with people who “normalised drug use” and illegal activities as a “significant factor in her downfall”. Her lawyer explained she had since cut all ties with “problematic” people and she has “taken as many steps as she can to address her drug use and her numerous issues with her mental health”. “She describes this to the court as being her last chance,” he said. The former Penthouse poser was also sentenced for twice driving with illicit drugs in her system and being in possession of ice. Deputy Chief Magistrate Theo Tsavdaridis noted Finlayson had 11 convictions related to drug use on her record, and had accrued 38 demerit points in just three years. The court heard the former Beauty and the Geek contestant was jailed in 2020 for drug supply and had continued to offend since. “Drugs have pervaded her life for the past five or six years in a significant, significant way,” Mr Tsavdaridis said. The magistrate said he was “fairly guarded” about Finlayson’s “future prospects” because she had not completed many mandated community service hours and corrective services had described her as “unreliable”. However, he emphasised she had been actively involved in seeking treatment and had “not sat on her hands” while waiting to be sentenced. In one of the reports tendered to the court, the former professional dancer was described as “being dedicated in her pursuit to turn her life around”. Finlayson had pleaded guilty to four counts of using false documents to influence the execution of a public duty, two counts of driving with drugs in her system, and two counts of drug possession. She was sentenced to a 10-month ICO and ordered to complete 75 hours of community service for faking the medical certificates. She was also convicted of the drug offences, fined $750, and disqualified from driving for six months. The former reality TV personality wiped away tears throughout the proceedings and appeared relieved when she walked out of the courthouse.