Rich boy Lachie Chittenden has 'fear in his eyes' as he grovels to a magistrate over his Byron Bay Schoolies bender paid for with a stranger's Amex card – as he is forced to answer the one question everyone wants answered

A magistrate told a former private schoolboy he could 'see the fear in his eyes' and warned him he could be jailed for up to ten years for using a schoolgirl's stolen credit card to make a wild vodka bender.

Lachie Chittenden, 18, son of former Colliers property director Peter Chittenden, bought 14 vodka drinks in just 29 minutes during the Schoolies Week drinking binge in Byron Bay in November.

But his big night out was paid for with a stolen American Express card from another girl celebrating Schoolies Week – a stranger to him – after blowing all his own money on the slots.

The former boarder at Scots College, where fees amount to $48,630 a year, pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining the 14 drinks by deception and appeared for sentencing at Picton Local Court, south west, on Friday from Sydney.

“There are times in your life when your integrity is tested – and you fail,” Magistrate David Degnan told the teenager as he appeared in court wearing beige chinos, a blue checked shirt, a blue tie and RM Williams boots.

Court documents revealed Jemma Fricke was a complete stranger to Chittenden, but at the same time and place he was also celebrating Schoolies Week in Byron Bay.

A Melbourne private schoolgirl victim had her driver's license and two bank cards stolen from her handbag pocket at the Northern Hotel in Byron Bay on November 28, 2023, sometime after 9pm.

Chittenden had previously claimed that 'a man' had given him the card, but Magistrate Degnan demanded the teenager tell him the truth.

“Who's going to go to an 18-year-old and say, take this credit card. Who gave it to him?' asked the magistrate.

“It was a friend,” Chittenden admitted. “I don't know where he got it, but he gave it to me. I wasn't thinking straight. It was a stupid mistake.'

Police told the court Chittenden then bought a round of four vodka raspberries at the same hotel at 9.28pm, with a bill for $44.79, which he paid by tapping her card at the bar.

He then purchased two more identical rounds at 9:35 PM and 9:46 PM, before a final round of two more vodka drinks at 9:57 PM, for a total of $156.77.

But every time he used her card to pay for the drinks by tapping the bar's till, the court heard Ms Fricke received notifications about the payments on her phone.

Chittenden's lawyer, Maurice Baroni, told the court his client had wanted to pay back Ms Fricke but did not know who she was, although the magistrate pointed out her name was in the details of the charge against Chittenden.

The teenager had pleaded guilty earlier this week at Moss Vale Local Court in the NSW Southern Highlands, near his family's nine-bedroom, 67 hectare farm in Berry.

On Friday, Chittenden – deputy house captain at Scots – gave the court a letter of apology and character references in an attempt to prevent a conviction from being recorded.

But the magistrate rejected one of the character reference's claims that the incident was a 'temporary error of judgement'.

“Well, that's wrong,” Magistrate Degnan said. 'It's not short-lived. He did it four times.”

Ms Fricke realized her cards were missing – and she didn't buy those drinks – so alerted security, who then used CCTV and receipts to trace it back to Chittenden.

They tracked down Chittenden and confronted him in the bar and found the stolen AmEx card in his shirt pocket.

Police were called to the scene and immediately arrested him for fraud before he told them he had 'consumed the drinks', adding: 'I did everything. I was stupid.

'I tapped the map. I spent all my money on the slots.'

On Friday, Magistrate Degnan said Schoolies Week had changed since he left the school.

“School leavers think they have a right to go to Byron Bay and Queensland just to get drunk,” he said. 'Now the police had to be involved.

“The fact that you got so drunk that you allegedly acted against your character… is not a mitigating factor. You are responsible and not someone else.

'I understand you're young. I understand that this clearly shows that your brain's executive function has not finished developing yet – and it won't until you are 25/27.

'[But] this is a serious crime. It carries a maximum prison sentence of ten years.'

Daily Mail Australia revealed earlier this week that Chittenden had not informed his father of his arrest after his parents split last year and he was living with his mother.

His mother, Keri, sat in the back of the court and wiped away tears as Chittenden's contrition and apology letter to the court was welcomed by the magistrate.

“The fact that one of your parents knew about this – and that's the one you live with – is what matters to me,” the magistrate said.

He added: 'I can see from your attitude that you know how serious this is, I can see the fear in your eyes.'

Magistrate Degnan ordered Chittenden to make restitution to his victim through the courts and sentenced him to a two-year prison term without sentencing.

“Not every mistake needs to be punished with a conviction,” he added.

'Stay out of trouble. Good luck.'

Chittenden declined to speak to reporters as he entered and left the court.