Matt Newton drug free, court hears

6 Aug 2012, 12:15 pm   -   Source: AAP
Troubled actor Matthew Newton has been released from a US clinic and is drug free says his lawyer. (AAP)

Troubled actor Matthew Newton has been released from a US clinic and is drug free says his lawyer. (AAP)

The lawyer for troubled actor Matthew Newton has told a Sydney court his client has been released from a clinic in the US and is now drug free.

Actor Matthew Newton is living free of all drugs after being released from a treatment clinic in the US, his lawyer has told a Sydney magistrate.

Appearing for his client in the Downing Centre Local Court on Monday, Chris Murphy said Newton had been diagnosed with a range of mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and a social phobia.

He said Newton's family put the actor in a clinic in the US on May 3, where over 84 days of treatment he was weaned off all legally prescribed drugs he had been taking during the last couple of years.

"Now he is totally free of all drugs," Mr Murphy told the court, adding that the actor was slim and "different".

Newton, the son of showbusiness couple Bert and Patti Newton, is charged with punching taxi driver Mohsen Khayami in the neck and head at Crows Nest in northern Sydney on December 4.

After the 35-year-old later moved to the US to escape media and public attention in Australia, he was charged with resisting a police officer and trespassing at popular Miami watering hole, Mr Moe's Restaurant and Bar, on April 6.

Two weeks later he was charged with battery and resisting arrest without violence after he allegedly confronted a hotel clerk.

He has pleaded not guilty to all four charges.

Mr Murphy said Newton's court case in the US had been adjourned until September 18.

He asked that the actor appear via audio video link in Sydney after that hearing to provide a new treatment plan under the Mental Health Act.

"There is no doubt that your client is unwell," Deputy Chief Magistrate Jane Mottley said.

The case has been adjourned until September 26.

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