Former Olympian Scott Miller could be released from jail after years down a dark path

Scott Miller was once one of Australia's poster boy athletes, winning a bronze and silver medal in the butterfly at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atalanta.

Nearly 28 years on from his medal success at the Games, Miller could be facing an extension to his sentence where he was originally sent down for four years because of drug offenses. 

According to the Daily Mail, during a court appearance on the 10th of May, Miller submitted an affidavit claiming his courtship and 1999 marriage to former late-night glamourous TV host Charlotte Dawson was the reason he went down a dark path as he looks for a release from prison.

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The Daily Telegraph reported Miller wrote: "Charlotte was engaged in the fashion and media industry, and it was in the context of my exposure to the lifestyle that my wife's social and employment connections afforded that I was first introduced to personal drug use."

"While it was not significant, I realize in retrospect that it was (the) start of my long and disastrous involvement with drug abuse."

Charlotte Dawson took her own life in 2014, one day after Miller's 39th birthday. He has since been on a dark road with drugs.

When Miller finished second to Russian Denis Pankratov in the 100m Butterfly final at the 1996 Olympic Games, it had a significant effect on his mental health. 

The Daily Mail reports these stresses and the isolation of being an athlete in training caused Miller to turn to drugs, and then the imprisonments followed.

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The News website in Australia reports Miller is currently serving a maximum sentence of five years and six months after already pleading guilty to charges of supplying drugs in the same ring as his previous offenses. 

The one-year parole period was set to elapse on the 15th of May, and because of his time already served, he will be eligible for release a week after his last conviction.

Judge Andrew Scotting believes the depression and anxiety because of his swimming career are why he has ended up in jail. Scotting also thinks Miller has shown good prospects of rehabilitation. 

Scotting told the court: "I accept that the point has been reached that no further rehabilitation will be gained by keeping him in jail."

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