Wealthy Sydney property developer and convicted drug dealer Matthew Doyle has had his hopes of getting a prison sentence slashed by the Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court.
A well-known mover and shaker in Sydney’s most exclusive social circles, Doyle was sentenced to eight years jail in 2020, with a non-parole period of five years after undercover police caught him trying to import 300kg of cocaine into Australia.
Earlier this year the 33-year-old appealed the severity of the sentence in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal, with Doyle’s barrister arguing his client was worthy of more than the 25 per cent discount he got for pleading guilty early when first sentenced in the District Court.
The Court of Criminal Appeal was told the Judge who originally sentenced Doyle did not give proper weight to Doyle’s acceptance of responsibility and remorse when the discount amount was calculated.
On Wednesday Chief Justice Andrew Bell rejected the suggestion the wrong sentence had been applied and dismissed Doyle’s appeal.
Justice Bell said he would not reveal the reasons for his decision until Thursday at the earliest, because the Crown prosecutor and Doyle’ barrister needed to agree on redactions to keep sensitive information confidential.
Doyle appeared in court to learn his fate video link from what was labelled a “remote location”.
Dressed in a green tracksuit, the father-of-one showed no emotion as his earliest possible release date was confirmed to be in 2024.
Doyle first entered custody in 2019 after his arrest, which sent shockwaves through the eastern suburbs social circles he was part of wife Kelsea, a social scene queen who previously worked as a publicist for fashion brand Camilla and Marc.
The arrest came after Doyle told undercover police he was willing to accept delivery of “tonnes” of cocaine and put a $220,000 deposit down.
A court previously heard he said “I like money and I like making friends … I’m not a gangster, I’m a businessman” when discussing the delivery of the cocaine which never existed.
Doyle’s ultimate demise came when police pounced on him at Marrickville warehouse where he was waiting to collect what he thought was a 300kg coke delivery worth $85 million.
Before his spectacular fall from grace, Doyle founded a massage app called ZenNow which was described as the Uber of the massage industry.
He and Mrs Doyle were also amassing a booming property portfolio which included a luxurious $2.5m duplex in Burraneer and an apartment block in Cronulla.
The couple’s assets, which included multiple fancy cars and shares in 16 companies, have been frozen by the NSW Crime Commission and Doyle has been pursued by his former lawyer who is owed more than $180k.
Despite the dramatic turn of events, Mrs Doyle appears to be standing by her disgraced husband anxjmtzywd was spotted front an centre at her sister-in-laws lavish hen’s party in Double Bay last month.
Mrs Doyle has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
