DRAMATIC COURTROOM EXIT… – Accused Melbourne “meth queen” Tess Rowlatt has walked free on bail after a judge approved her release to a four-star hotel, with the decision quickly sparking debate.
Notorious Melbourne party girl Tess Rowlatt has sensationally been granted bail despite pleading guilty to dealing large amounts of methamphetamine.
Rowlatt has left her tiny cell at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre and will soon be moving into the $200-a-night four-star Oaks Melbourne hotel on Collins Street.
Judge Duncan Allen allowed Rowlatt to live at the ‘suitable bail address’ after giving the repeat drug trafficker yet another chance to remain in the community.
Rowlatt, 36, walked free from the County Court on Tuesday afternoon, having pleaded guilty in March to trafficking meth and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
As she stepped out of the courthouse on Tuesday afternoon, she made a beeline for a freelance reporter who was on assignment for the Daily Mail.
She made it clear she was not a fan of our coverage of her case, our reporting on women in general, or our paywall, before asking to see one of the photographer’s images of her leaving court.
‘That’s dreadful,’ she remarked, before making a swift exit in an SUV.
Hours earlier, Rowlatt and her supporters, including her influencer sister Victoria Rowlatt and supposed boyfriend Timmy O’Dwyer, had been seen laughing and smiling as Judge Allen listed the conditions of her court-monitored bail.
+15
View gallery
After being granted bail, Tess Rowlatt made a beeline for a freelance photographer on assignment for the Daily Mail to complain about our coverage of her drug-trafficking case
+15
View gallery
Rowlatt has left her tiny cell at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre and will soon be moving into the $200-a-night four-star Oaks Melbourne hotel on Collins Street. (She is pictured leaving court)
+15
View gallery
Rowlatt was granted bail despite pleading guilty to dealing large amounts of methamphetamine
TRENDING
Outrageous Karmelo Anthony request for Austin Metcalf murder
5.6k viewing now
REBECCA ENGLISH: Why King’s patience snapped amid Harry flip-flopping
33.1k viewing now
US launches a series of ‘powerful’ strikes on Iran after attacks
1.5k viewing now
Victoria, who claims to have worked at Fox FM, left the court dripping in Burberry and even smiled for our snapper, after previously making efforts to avoid the media.
Both sisters attended the prestigious Canterbury Girls’ School – but while Victoria went on to lead a glamorous yet law-abiding lifestyle, Rowlatt’s pursuit of luxury took her down a criminal path.
Rowlatt’s most recent brush with the law began on August 16 last year when she was arrested by police in Melbourne high-rise district Southbank just before 1am.
Cops had noticed a black BMW X5 that the court heard was registered to an individual with a firearm prohibition order and ‘outlaw motorcycle gang affiliations’.
Police followed the BMW for a short distance then lit it up, at which stage it stopped and Rowlatt bolted from the vehicle.
Officers chose to let the vehicle drive off and instead chased down Rowlatt, who raced towards Southside Tower on Sturt Street.
Rowlatt was caught with more than 100g of meth in her black handbag.
The former marketing high-flyer was also caught with 1,4‑butanediol – a commercial-grade solvent that converts into the party drug GHB when ingested – as well as $750 in cash and bank cards in other people’s names.
+15
View gallery
Rowlatt left in a Range Rover, likely bound for the four-star accommodation she was bailed to
+15
View gallery
Rowlatt asked to see one of the photographer’s images of her leaving court. ‘That’s dreadful,’ she remarked, before making a swift exit in an SUV
+15
View gallery
Rowlatt’s most recent brush with the law began on August 16 last year when she was arrested by police in Melbourne high-rise district Southbank just before 1am
+15
View gallery
Tess’ influencer sister Victoria Rowlatt was pictured outside the court
+15
View gallery
Victoria Rowlatt wore a Gucci bumbag slung across her body. Tess’ supposed boyfriend Timmy O’Dwyer can be seen behind her
+15
View gallery
Victoria, who claims to have worked at Fox FM, left the court dripping in Burberry and even smiled for our snapper, after previously making efforts to avoid the media
Read More
EXCLUSIVE
Mortifying new photos leak of ‘middle-class’ drug queen Tess Rowlatt after she vowed to get clean
Police hauled Rowlatt in for questioning before she was charged and remanded to the notorious Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, home to convicted mushroom killer Erin Patterson.
The court was not told the identity of the bikie who owned the BMW, or whether that person was behind the wheel at the time.
Despite the latest drug bust and her priors for running a major racket out of Airbnbs, Rowlatt was granted bail to live in a ‘self-contained suite’ that the court heard was being ‘privately funded’.
Judge Allen also ordered Rowlatt not to consume or possess illicit drugs – even though it is already illegal to do so in the state of Victoria.
Rowlatt will also need to undertake judicial monitoring, drug rehab and mental health treatment as she embarks on her first days of freedom in almost a year.
Crown prosecutor Matt Cookson went down swinging as he steadfastly opposed bail.
Cookson noted that Rowlatt had been doing well in custody and in rehab, but she had relapsed while on a community correction order for prior offending.
He called for Rowlatt to be immediately sentenced to a jail term with a parole period attached.
‘These matters escalated… only the stringency of a parole period will protect the community,’ Cookson told the court.
However Judge Allen, who previously handed Rowlatt a four-year community correction order for commercial-quantity drug trafficking, said she deserved another chance.
‘The road to rehabilitation is not linear… she deserves the opportunity and I will give her that,’ Judge Allen said.
‘There’ll be no further relapses.’
+15
View gallery
Rowlatt had been imprisoned at the notorious Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, home to convicted mushroom killer Erin Patterson (pictured)
+15
View gallery
The Rowlatt sisters both attended the prestigious Canterbury Girls’ School (pictured)
Read More
EXCLUSIVE
Fallen Haileybury swim prodigy Steph Reed is charged over alleged drug dealing after Melbourne raid
Judge Allen also ordered O’Dwyer – a tattooed concreter previously described as Rowlatt’s boyfriend – not to use drugs.
The court heard in April that O’Dwyer had faced court five times for drug possession offences since 2022. At the time, he was in the witness box making the case for his rented St Kilda apartment to serve as a bail address for Rowlatt.
However, that bid was unsuccessful after Judge Allen thumbed through pages of O’Dwyer’s priors.
Amazingly, Judge Allen noted at the time that O’Dwyer had been arrested in July last year for allegedly taking illicit drugs into the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
During the April hearing, O’Dwyer told the court that he and Rowlatt had been friends for a ‘few years’ but only entered a romantic relationship in mid-2025.
‘I was aware she was using drugs,’ O’Dwyer told the court.
‘Tess would sort of distance that from me… Tess would hide it from me, she would avoid trying to upset me.’
The court previously heard that Rowlatt had a 17-year history of drug abuse which began when she was 19.
Despite this, and her history as a prominent drug dealer in Melbourne, Corrections Victoria had earlier assessed Rowlatt as having a ‘low risk of reoffending’.
It was also determined after her February 2024 sentencing that Rowlatt only required a single day of drug rehabilitation, which was completed within three months of commencing her longer-than-usual community correction order.
Further, Rowlatt was allowed to complete 400 hours of community service ‘working from home’. The exact nature of the work wasn’t revealed in court, but whatever Rowlatt did it ended up benefiting a kindergarten in Kyneton.
+15
View gallery
The court previously heard that Rowlatt (left) had a 17-year history of drug abuse which began when she was 19
+15
View gallery
Rowlatt was described as ‘toxic’ and ‘manipulative’ during her years as a Melbourne party girl
Read More
EXCLUSIVE
Bombshell at ‘middle-class’ drug queen’s bail hearing as lover makes a startling admission to judge
Judge Allen lambasted the ‘system’ for contributing to Rowlatt’s latest troubles, after he had previously determined she was ‘wholly rehabilitated’.
‘Clearly, an abject failure [has occurred],’ he said on March 26.
‘I didn’t expect for one second anyone would tell her we don’t need to see you anymore [after three months on the community correction order].’
Cookson countered by telling the court that Rowlatt was ‘entirely responsible’ for her reoffending after she was previously given an ‘exceptional opportunity of mercy’.
Judge Allen rejected Cookson’s submission.
Rowlatt’s ‘significant prior’ offending was her role running a major drug racket operated out of 16 Melbourne Airbnbs between July and October 2021.
Rowlatt served just 419 days in jail despite pleading guilty to trafficking a commercial quantity of drugs.
Covert cops had secretly tracked Rowlatt and another suspected drug dealer during an investigation that lasted several months and involved hours of physical and electronic surveillance.
She was eventually arrested at her Upper West Side apartment on Spencer St on October 21, 2021.
Rowlatt initially faced more than 70 charges, including trafficking a large commercial quantity of meth and heroin, and trafficking bute, known to be a deadly rave drug.
A Melbourne court previously heard allegations that Rowlatt shifted between 16 separate Airbnb properties, including the View Hotel St Kilda and Upper West Side in the city.
Police had alleged Rowlatt stayed at the properties for periods lasting between a night and a few days while she sold vast amounts of meth.
Rowlatt sold drugs at the short-stay properties which police alleged she secured using fake IDs.
The court also heard a prior allegation that Rowlatt made multiple drug deals, including a single transaction suspected to be worth $34,000.
Police uncovered the evidence after seizing several of Rowlatt’s devices.
+15
View gallery
In April, Timmy O’Dwyer took the witness stand to argue that his rented St Kilda apartment should be accepted as a bail address for Rowlatt. The application was unsuccessful at the time
+15
View gallery
Rowlatt graduated from Monash University, then held sales roles at several marketing firms
Read More
EXCLUSIVE
I grew up with Melbourne’s ‘middle-class’ drug queen. The REAL story of Tess Rowlatt can now be told
The party girl, who graduated from Monash University before holding sales roles in multiple marketing companies, had been on remand at Dame Phyllis Frost before she was released on Tuesday.
The court heard Rowlatt will also continue to see a Corrections Victoria employee while she is out on bail.
The employee entered the witness box at the previous hearing to say that she saw Rowlatt on a weekly basis in custody.
The support worker also told the court Rowlatt ‘seemed more serious than she’s ever been’ in wanting to rehabilitate.
‘She’s quite middle-class, she’s quite different to the average prisoner,’ she said.
However, the support worker told the court that Rowlatt had previously lied to psychologists about her drug use and could not fully guarantee she could trust her honesty now.
Rowlatt, who must adhere to an 11am-7am curfew at her new city digs, will face court again in December.
