Bali Nine drug smuggler Renae Lawrence has avoided a second stint behind bars in relation to a 2005 high-speed stolen car chase with police in NSW.
On Tuesday in Newcastle Local Court, Lawrence, 41, was placed on a 12-month community corrections order, disqualified from driving for three months and fined $1000.
Magistrate Sharron Crews said the criminal charges against Lawrence were serious, and a conviction simply had to be recorded.
Convicted drug smuggler Renae Lawrence (white shirt) has avoided a stint in an Australian jail in relation to 2005 driving offences
Renae Lawrence (pictured left) has dodged time in jail after pleading guilty to stealing a car and taking police on a high speed police chase back in 2005
Defence lawyer Drew Hamilton told the court Lawrence was now a very different person compared to back in 2005 when she had a serious drug habit at the time of the offence.
'Today is a good opportunity for Ms Lawrence and her family to draw a line in the sand and move forward,' the lawyer said.
'This is someone who has been punished significantly in the past 13 years.'
Lawrence - who has suffered from anxiety and depression since her chaotic return to Australia in November last year following her release from a Bali prison - pleaded guilty to charges of car theft, driving while unlicensed, speeding and failing to stop for police.
Lawrence had stolen a white Ford Laser hatch at Enfield at about 4am on March 26, 2005.
She was also driving at 130km/h in a 90 zone with fellow Bali drug mule Matthew Norman at Mooney Mooney before her arrest.
Lawrence was subsequently caught at Bali airport in April 2005 with 2.7 kilograms of heroin strapped to her body and later jailed for 20 years.
She served 13 years after being granted repeated sentence reductions.
Renae Lawrence (pictured) leaving Newcastle Court on Tuesday - the Bali 9 drug smuggler pleaded guilty to a string of driving charges, but avoided time in an Australian jail
Bali Nine drug smuggler Renae Lawrence (pictured right) has managed to avoid a second stint behind bars in relation to a 2005 high-speed stolen car chase with police in NSW
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