The Chinese heiress accused of causing catastrophic injuries to a chauffeur by crashing her $1.5million Rolls-Royce into his Mercedes-Benz was sent to Australia when she was 14.
LanLan Yang’s parents dispatched her to attend high school far away from where she was born and the 23-year-old has rarely returned to her homeland since she was a girl.
Details about Yang’s mysterious background were revealed for the first time on Friday when she applied to have her bail conditions varied at Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court.
It also emerged haute couture-loving Yang suffers ‘very considerable’ mental health issues and lives a hermit-like existence in her luxurious eastern suburbs penthouse.
Yang was allegedly behind the wheel of her Tiffany blue Rolls-Royce Cullinan when it smashed into a Mercedes van driven by chauffeur George Plassaras about 3.30am on July 26 at Rose Bay, a couple of suburbs from her home.
Mr Plassaras, who regularly drove for radio king Kyle Sandilands, suffered life-changing injuries including multiple fractures to his legs, hips and spine.
Yang was granted bail after agreeing to surrender her passport, report to police three times a week, remain in her Watsons Bay apartment between 8pm and 6am and not drive a car.
Barrister John Korn said on Friday his client ‘has been the subject of very considerable mental health considerations’, which he suggested made complying with her bail conditions difficult.
LanLan Yang, the Chinese heiress accused of causing catastrophic injuries to a chauffeur by crashing her $1.5million Rolls-Royce into his Mercedes-Benz, was sent to Australia when she was 14
LanLan Yang (left) was allegedly behind the wheel of her Tiffany blue Rolls-Royce Cullinan in the early hours of July 26 at Rose Bay when she smashed into chauffeur George Plassaras
‘She hardly leaves her home,’ he told the court.
Camera-shy Yang, who has never been photographed without a hat and only once without a face mask, did not appear in court on Friday, either in person or via audio-visual link.
In the two months since the crash, conjecture has swirled about Yang’s personal circumstances and the source of her apparent wealth.
Mr Korn put an end to some of those rumours as he successfully sought to have Yang’s curfew lifted and reduce her reporting to police to one day a week.
The barrister confirmed to magistrate Megan Greenwood that Yang was a foreign national and permanent resident who was living in Australia as a student.
He also said Yang had been sent to Australia for school when she was 14 and she had rarely returned to China.
The most serious charge Yang faces is dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm – an offence which carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail.
One count of negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm was laid on Tuesday as a back-up charge and she is also accused of refusing or failing to submit to a breath test and not giving particulars to police.
Yang, who is on bail and lives at Watson’s Bay in the city’s east, has gone viral in Australia and China over her extraordinary designer wardrobe and apparently enormous wealth
Details about Yang’s mysterious background were revealed for the first time on Friday when she applied to have her bail conditions varied. Her Rolls-Royce Cullinan is pictured on Sydney’s Broadway
A charge of causing bodily harm by misconduct has been withdrawn.
There are few publicly available records linking Yang to Australia, and she has declined all requests for comment from journalists.
Her mystique grew after the Daily Mail revealed she kept a second Rolls-Royce in the car park of her penthouse apartment, which is registered in the name of a shell company not controlled by her.
Yang’s case has sparked particular interest among Chinese Australians, attracting scores of them into the city on August 15 to witness the first mention of her case in court.
On that day, Yang disappointed her huge new fan base by failing to appear in person and instead appearing briefly on screen from her lawyer’s office.
One onlooker had told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s very rare to see, or have the opportunity to see, someone in person who is ultra wealthy and has power.’
‘You don’t see 23-year-olds who can drive two Rolls-Royces.’
On Friday, more than 20 spectators came hoping to see the object of their curiosity but all left before the bail variation application was heard in a separate court room.
It emerged on Friday that haute couture-loving Yang suffers ‘very considerable’ mental health issues and lives a hermit-like existence in her luxurious eastern suburbs penthouse
Scores of curious onlookers came into the city on August 15 to attend the first mention of Yang’s court case
When Mr Korn had first mentioned the case before a registrar and noted the public gallery was packed, she knowingly observed: ‘It’s crowded for a reason.’
Speculation about Yang has surged in China, where she has become the subject of wildly inaccurate claims on platforms such as Douyin and Weibo, as well as in mainstream media reports.
Fevered online supposition has suggested Yang used the Anglicised name ‘Wendy’, and that she was a former University of NSW student whose fortune was derived from iron ore.
The Daily Mail shut down another line of inquiry this week, with the owners of a car parts company in South Hurstville registered to a ‘Lan Lan Yang’ revealing the heiress has no link to the business.
‘No, no, no,’ said a daughter of the other Ms Yang when asked if there was any family connection. ‘She’s not the one. I’d be rich if she was.
‘We’ve seen the news. It’s a complete coincidence. They have the same name and people have been asking.’
The Daily Mail revealed last week that 52-year-old Mr Plassaras might never work again and was being treated at a rehabilitation facility in the eastern suburbs.
The crash left Mr Plassaras with a broken spine, two broken hips, two broken femurs, a torn-open abdomen, a ruptured spleen and other life-changing injuries.
The crash (above) left Mr Plassaras with a broken spine, two broken hips, two broken femurs, a torn-open abdomen, a ruptured spleen and other life-changing injuries
Plassaras (above) was taken to hospital and might never work again, while Yang was charged by police and granted bail under conditions including that she surrender her passport
CCTV footage of the collision appeared to show Yang’s vehicle veering into oncoming traffic before the head-on impact.
A fellow hire car driver who has been in contact with Mr Plassaras told the Daily Mail: ‘He’s never going to be able to work again.’
Another industry figure who has spoken to Mr Plassaras confirmed his employment prospects appeared bleak.
‘He has lost his livelihood,’ they said. ‘His whole world has changed completely and he’s on his own. He’s got no one.
‘He said, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to work again”. And if he does, he says it would not be for a very long time.’
While Mr Plassaras continues his slow road to some sort of recovery, Yang has made no statement about the crash or publicly expressed concern for his welfare.
Associates of Mr Plassaras told the Daily Mail they are unaware of Yang making any attempt to contact him.
Yang has been spotted being chauffeur-driven around town and was recently photographed having a long lunch with a friend at a harbourside restaurant.
On that occasion, she was wearing a $4,326 Louis Vuitton jacket, $3,000 Louis Vuitton cargo pants, $2,600 Hermès ankle boots and $1,220 Louis Vuitton Iconic cap.
Yang is due back in court on October 17, when she will be required to enter pleas to all charges.
