Tony Sheahan, the son of highly regarded former AFL reporter Mike Sheahan, has appeared to fall asleep at a table outside an upmarket Sydney pub in a video doing the rounds on social media.
The footage, which has been posted to Instagram, seems to show Tony Sheahan sleeping at the Royal Oak Hotel in Double Bay, one of Sydney’s most exclusive suburbs.
Sheahan appears to be slumped over motionless in his chair while holding his mobile phone with a shopping bag beside him in the video, which was uploaded on Tuesday.
According to the caption on the clip, the footage was taken at 7.50pm that day at the busy venue.
The Daily Mail has contacted Tony Sheahan and the Royal Oak Hotel for comment.
Sheahan, 48, faced Waverley Local Court in September 2022 after consuming 30 alcoholic drinks and taking a sleeping pill before he stole an Uber driver’s car in a bizarre meltdown in Bondi Beach in December the previous year.
Pictured: A grab from the video that appears to show Tony Sheahan asleep outside the Royal Oak Hotel in the exclusive eastern Sydney suburb of Double Bay
Sheahan is pictured outside court in September 2022 after pleading guilty to hijacking an Uber in a drink-fuelled episode in Bondi Beach
The former Herald Sun columnist (pictured outside court) was not convicted for stealing the vehicle, instead getting an 18-month bond
The court heard that the former Herald Sun sporting gossip columnist was suffering from ‘some form of delusional paranoia’ when he took the vehicle after a heavy day’s drinking in Hotel Ravesis.
Sheahan was more than three times over the limit when he hijacked the car, and had an ‘idiosyncratic drug reaction’ with Stilnox, the sleeping medication he had been prescribed.
The driver, Janaka Pathirana, would later tell police he observed Sheahan’s eyes were red, his speech was slurred and his reactions ‘lethargic’.
‘The victim also noted the accused’s breath to smell of alcohol,’ court documents stated.
‘The victim believed the accused to be heavily intoxicated having made observations of his appearance and mannerisms.’
Pathirana – who was expecting to pick up a female passenger – vacated the vehicle after Sheahan refused to get out, then got into the driver’s seat and took off.
He was soon arrested by police after a short chase on foot.
Sheahan pleaded guilty to taking and driving a conveyance without the consent of its owner, and driving on an expired licence.
Magistrate Ross Hudson said Sheahan’s subjective case was ‘powerful’, he was on the path to rehabilitation and had shown remorse.
He did not convict him for stealing the vehicle, instead placing Sheahan on an 18-month bond which required him to continue treatment. The offence of driving with an expired licence was dismissed.
Sheahan formerly wrote the Sheahan Ink sport gossip column for the Herald Sun.