Former Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns could face jail after pleading guilty to a high-range drink-driving charge, a magistrate has warned.
Johns crashed his car near Newcastle last month and recorded a blood-alcohol reading of more than three times the legal limit, the court heard.
Police said Johns was driving on the Pacific Highway at North Arm Cove when he crossed into the opposite lane of traffic and collided with a van.
Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns has pleaded guilty drink driving after he slammed his car into another vehicle last month
A magistrate has warned former Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns that he could face jail
The singer, who is undergoing a three-month rehab program, did not appear at Raymond Terrace Local Court on Monday.
His lawyer, Bryan Wrench entered the guilty plea on his behalf and sought an expedited sentencing.
Mr Wrench said Johns wanted the matter dealt with immediately because it is causing him anxiety during his rehabilitation program.
However the magistrate said the offence carried the possibility of jail time and ordered Johns’ lawyers to contact Corrective Services NSW within a week to arrange a sentencing assessment.
He will be sentenced on June 22.
The 42-year-old spoke on the matter last month, saying he has been suffering from ‘panic attacks’ and the accident occurred after becoming ‘lost’ on the road.
‘As you know, my mental health is a work in progress. I have good days and bad days but it’s something I always have to manage,’ he said.
‘Over the last week I began to experience panic attacks. Last night I got lost while driving and I was in an accident. I am OK, everyone is OK.
Johns is currently undergoing a three-month rehab program and did not appear in the Raymond Terrance Local Court. His lawyer, Bryan Wrench entered the guilty plea on his behalf.
‘Alongside my therapy, I’ve been self-medicating with alcohol to deal with my anxiety and depression. I know this is no sustainable or healthy.
‘I have to step back now as I’m self-admitting to a rehabilitation centre and I don’t know how long I’ll be there. Appreciate your love and support as always.’
The road crash came just weeks after Daniel slammed his Silverchair ‘colleagues’ for allegedly not supporting him when he was gravely ill in 2002.
The singer and guitarist revealed in a Facebook post in March that he’d been diagnosed with reactive arthritis, an inflammation of the joints that left him in crippling pain, when the band was launching their fourth album Diorama.
Johns, who also was being treated for anxiety and anorexia at the time, claimed he did not receive the help he needed, and felt his band was ‘more of a business than family’.
‘I felt personally responsible for people in our crew who couldn’t work because of my illness,’ he wrote.
‘While I was undergoing exhaustive treatment both here and abroad, I learned very quickly who loved me as a human being and who needed me a performer.
‘I really needed a friend back then, instead I had disgruntled colleagues. When my phone did ring it was usually someone asking if I was ready to tour again.’
He recalled how one member of the Silverchair team even questioned if he was sick at all.
‘Someone in the team even questioned whether I was sick at all and that maybe I just didn’t want to promote the album… Who the f**k wanted Diorama to be more successful than I did?’ he said.
Johns added: ‘I’m not resentful. I understand everyone was under pressure and the band was putting food on many tables but this was too much to put on me. I was 22.’
It’s unclear if Johns was referring to his bandmates Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou when he spoke of his ‘colleagues’ and members of Silverchair’s ‘team’.
Diorama became Silverchair’s fastest-selling album, and went on to be certified triple platinum.
Johns, who was married to Natalie Imbruglia from 2003 to 2008, previously revealed why he decided to distance himself from the band that catapulted him to fame.
In October last year, he confirmed the group would never reform with him as frontman because he’d struggled for years with the dark side of fame.
Johns – who was just 15 when Silverchair’s first single was released – said on his Spotify podcast Who Is Daniel Johns? he had even thrown out all of his memorabilia, awards and mementos.
‘It’s not that I am not proud of it, but for some reason I don’t want it around,’ he said.
He bluntly added: ‘I wouldn’t even get Silverchair back together for a million dollars with a gun to my head.’
It wasn’t the only time Johns spoke out about his struggles with mental health and the limelight.
He recently discussed his crippling battle with anorexia in the late ’90s, detailing his harrowing ordeal on his tell-all Spotify podcast.
He told interviewer Kaitlyn Sawrey that he would go on three-hour walks to ‘lose weight’ at the height of his anorexia.
‘I used to wait until everyone went to bed and then I would take her for walks at 2am for like, three hours, because I was anorexic so I was trying to lose weight,’ Johns said.
Johns said he became a recluse in his late teenage years, only leaving his bedroom at night to exercise.
The singer explained that starving himself was the only part of his life he could control as a global teen sensation.
‘That’s eating disorder 101. I couldn’t control anything but I could control what I ate,’ Johns said.
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