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The Block’s Suzi Taylor returned to Instagram on Sunday after being released from a 202-day stint behind bars, including a month in solitary confinement, in May.
The Penthouse cover girl shared a sultry close-up selfie with her 3,972 followers at her Brisbane home and declared she was finally ‘free’ and ‘alive’ with the ‘living’.
Taylor, 50, walked free from the Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre a month early after being acquitted of extorting a man on an escort date gone wrong in 2019. The former reality star was overjoyed after 70 more charges against her were dropped.
‘Back to the land of the living’: The Block’s Suzi Taylor returned to social media on Sunday with this sultry selfie and declared she’s finally ‘free and alive’ – following 202 days in jail including a month in solitary confinement
In Taylor’s sultry selfie, she posed in a grey ensemble, aviator sunglasses and a black and white cap.
Her brunette locks fell in waves around her shoulders, and she opted for a more natural makeup look.
‘I made it back to the land of the living… finally,’ Taylor captioned the post, alongside the hashtags ‘alive’, ‘free’ and ‘me’.
As she walked free from the Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre in May, she told reporters: ‘Eighteen months ago I was charged and arrested for a crime I did not commit.
Overjoyed: The Penthouse cover girl posed for the cameras after being released from prison in May (pictured)
‘I feel I was unjustly attacked and made to look guilty just by being my silly self and being made to look guilty with false accusations, lies and untruths and innuendo.
‘But I am not guilty and finally I can say that and get on with life and start afresh.’
As Taylor walked down the street, dressed in black and wearing high heels, she was seen clutching a brown paper bag with her name on it – inside were her personal items initially seized when she got locked up.
Taylor was cleared on charges of extortion, deprivation of liberty, fraud and assault after being accused of attacking a man at her apartment in October 2019.
Queensland Police filed over 100 charges against her – including 94 counts of breaching bail conditions as well as drug and driving crimes.
But more than 70 of the charges were dropped at Brisbane Magistrates Court in May, with the prosecutor offering no evidence on dozens of counts.
Glamorous persona: The 50-year-old looked different from her usually glamorous self (pictured) as she left Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre in May
During her time behind bars, the reality TV star was kept in solitary confinement for over a month, the court was told.
Taylor, whose real name is Suellen Jan Taylor, eventually pleaded guilty to almost 30 charges, including possessing small amounts of cocaine and marijuana.
The court took almost half an hour to determine how many of the hundred-plus charges the reality star was still facing before legal proceedings could get underway.
Taylor broke down as her court matters were finalised, having dressed all in back during the proceedings, NCA NewsWire reported.
Cleared: In April, Taylor was cleared on charges of extortion, deprivation of liberty, fraud and assault after being accused of attacking a man at her apartment in October 2019 (pictured before her prison stint)
The court heard her first offence was in October 2019 after she drove a car that was taken from its owner, then left the scene after having an accident.
The prosecution asked for Taylor to be given probation and a suspended sentence, insisting she showed a ‘blatant and persistent’ disregard for the court.
Her lawyer Michael Gatenby described the remaining charges as ‘low level’.
Taylor was convicted but not further punished on all charges as magistrate Stephen Courtney ordered her immediate release.
Emotional: Taylor cried in court as she was released from jail after dozens of charges against her were dropped (pictured, before her prison stint)
‘Not meaning this in an insulting way, but your story is a sad one. There has been a real deterioration of your position and mental health,’ he said.
‘When one really drills down to it, while there are a lot of charges… the charges each and of themselves do not reach a high level of seriousness.’
Outside court, Mr Gatenby said it was a horrendous experience for a woman who did nothing wrong and called for an inquiry.
‘I think there should be an inquiry into the way the state treats people with mental illness,’ he said.
‘I don’t know how you would cope, sitting in a jail cell knowing you had done nothing wrong.
‘A lot of people have a lot to answer for – I don’t know how her mental health has withstood this behaviour.’
Gruelling stint: Taylor (pictured) looked unrecognisable after being released from a gruelling 202-day stint behind bars including a month in solitary confinement
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