- Top official charged with did drive while under the influence of liquor
- News comes at a very sensitive time for the NRL team
Brisbane Broncos media manager Melissa Mallet has been charged with high-range drink driving after allegedly crashing into two cars near the team’s headquarters earlier this month.
Mallet, 39, has been charged with did drive under influence of liquor after the alleged incident at around 9.45pm on June 2.
The former Channel Nine reporter has been accused of crashing her Kia Sorrento into two parked vehicles on Tooth Avenue, Paddington about 3km north-west of the Brisbane CBD.
Police officers were called to the scene.
‘The driver allegedly returned a positive roadside test and was transported to hospital for treatment and further testing,’ Queensland Police said in a statement.
Police said it will be alleged that the ‘Kia Sorrento failed to stop and attempted to do a U-turn, before nearby residents assisted the driver out of the vehicle’.
Brisbane Broncos media manager Melissa Mallet (pictured) is due to front court after allegedly crashing into two cars while drink-driving
Former Channel Nine star Mallet (pictured) has been charged with did drive under influence of liquor after the alleged incident in Brisbane on June 2
Mallet is due to appear before Brisbane Magistrates Court on June 8 and has been off work since the alleged incident.
‘Brisbane Broncos can confirm the club is aware of a traffic incident involving a staff member, which took place earlier this month,’ the club said in a statement.
‘Our concern is for the health and wellbeing of the staff member, who has been on personal leave since the incident.’
The allegations became public just after Broncos star Ezra Mam conducted media interviews to discuss his drug-driving crash in Brisbane on October 18 last year.
Mam was fined $850 and disqualified from driving for six months. Cocaine was detected in his system after the collision, which saw a mother and her infant daughter taken to hospital, with the girl suffering a fractured hip.
He was also hit with a nine-match ban by the NRL and fined $120,000.
Mam’s interviews followed the Broncos hiring crisis management expert Grant Williams to help the team repair damage to its brand.
He was brought in after recent incidents including Mam’s scandal, the posting of a video of star Reece Walsh punching a friend in the head, and the sacking of veteran Marty Taupau after he appeared to criticise coach Michael Maguire on social media.
The charge against Mallet became public just after Broncos star Ezra Mam (pictured) opened up about his drug-driving crash in what is widely seen as an attempt by the club to improve its image after recent scandals
The site of Mallet’s alleged crash is within walking distance of Broncos headquarters in Red Hill, and around a kilometre from where Mam’s crash occurred.
Brisbane and the NRL had been heavily criticised for not hitting Mam with a longer suspension.
‘I caused an accident. The thought of my actions and potentially hurting anybody or impacting somebody’s life … I’ve got to deal with that every day of my life,’ Mam said over the weekend.
‘I have extreme regrets.
‘I regret the whole thing. Firstly, I regret that I didn’t just stop in the first place. I wish I didn’t drive unlicensed, it was a stupid thing to do.
‘The biggest lesson learned is that my actions can have repercussions, not just to myself, but more importantly on others.
‘It’s something I think of every day. I genuinely do feel for what I did and I’m trying to handle it in a good way.’
