A TV still image shows a firefighter standing next to a car, trapped underneath a truck, in which three relatives of Pope Francis were killed near James Craik
A TV still image shows a firefighter standing next to a car, trapped underneath a truck, in which three relatives of Pope Francis were killed near James Craik, Cordoba province, early August 19, 2014. A nephew of the pope, Emanuel Bergoglio, who was driving the car was in serious condition after the accident. The nephew's wife and two children aged two years and eight months died, said media citing police and hospital sources. REUTERS/DyN-www.noticraik.com

Sydney fashion designer, Jodhi Meares, was fined after she had been charged for drink-driving.

Meares, the former wife of Australia's eighth richest man James Packer, was fined $1,100. Additionally, her driver's license was suspended for a year after she had been found guilty of drunk-driving. According to her solicitor Chris Murphy, Meares was afraid to go outside her residence after she crashed her Range Rover that damaged three vehicles at Bellevue Hill in June. She was apparently "terrified" of the public attention she got after the accident.

Meares pleaded guilty at Waverley Local Court on Wednesday, Aug 20. She had earlier confined herself in her apartment as she had to be injected with a sedative, her solicitor informed the court. A physician prescribed her beta blockers to handle stress and anxiety she apparently suffered after being involved in the car accident. Her marriage with Packer "haunts everything that's ever said about her," Murphy said. The solicitor also said that the Meares was "not a celebrity" but "a woman" and "a good person." "She's small. She was affected by alcohol. That's when you make appalling decisions," he said about his client.

Murphy continued to defend his client by arguing that she had already "been punished enough." The fashion designer apparently struggled to cope with the media pressure. ''The impact has gotten so bad with the harassment that I'm trying to talk her out of leaving Australia, such is the impact on her life," he said. Murphy also said that he had to go to her residence to collect her for appearing at the court as she was apparently terrified to face the media. "We were followed from the house ... whoever it was drove through a red light to follow us," Murphy said.

Murphy, on the other hand, emphasised that his client was "self-made." She donated a share of the money she earned from selling each of her fashion products for the underprivileged kids in Cambodia, he said. He said that she had spent around 1 million to buy her two-bedroom apartment. However, he argued that her way of leading life was "far from ostentatious."

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au