A lawyer representing the wealthy Chinese woman Lanlan Yang in a high-profile case has asked a Sydney local court to again adjourn the case, as Yang may face an additional charge.
The 23-year-old has been accused of driving a $1.5m Rolls-Royce SUV that crashed head-on into a car driven by George Plassaras, a driver for FM radio host Kyle Sandilands, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on 26 July. Plassaras suffered serious injuries in the crash.
She has been charged with refusing or failing to submit to breath analysis, dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, not giving particulars to police and negligent driving (occasioning grievous bodily harm).
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In the previous mention in September, Yang’s barrister, John Korn, was instructed by the court to enter pleas at Friday’s mention.
But Korn told the court that after communicating with the New South Wales Police prosecutor this week, there might be changes to charges against Yang.
The prosecutor told the court that while there was no amendment to the existing charges, police were verifying whether there was an additional charge.
When the registrar told the court it had been three months since the case was first mentioned, Korn said the request for delay this time was because “the prosecution is not in a position to accept a plea”.
Yang had been granted permission to appear via video conference on Friday, and the court registrar said she would also be spared from attending court in person at the next hearing.
Yang’s case has garnered significant media attention in Australia and China.
Her mention on Friday attracted about a dozen people from the Chinese community to queue outside the court from as early as 8am.
Some said they followed Yang’s case through Chinese political influencers on YouTube.
Speaking to the media, Korn said Yang’s family background was “completely irrelevant from what I do for it, so therefore I never asked (her)”.
“She’s a very shy girl, but I’m assuming she reads and looks at (the) media from time to time,” he said.
“The media attention doesn’t help her,” said Korn, who in his bail variation application in September wrote that Yang now rarely left her home.
The case will return to court on 14 November.
• This article was amended on 21 October 2025. A previous version said John Korn was a solicitor, rather than a barrister.
