Wealthy socialite Phoebe Malouf has lost her appeal to have a drunk driving conviction overturned after driving a nine-year-old child home from a play date after a vodka dinner.

The 39-year-old was slammed by the judge who dismissed part of her high profile lawyer’s argument, saying it was ‘senseless’ and ‘very selfish’ to drive drunk – and that she was “seven times more likely to harm people in a car accident with that much alcohol in her blood”.

District Court Judge Christopher O’Brien told the charity maven and wife of Sydney pub baron James Malouf on Thursday afternoon, “you could have called an Uber…there were options”.

His Honor dismissed Greg James QC’s argument that Malouf was an outlier, saying: “I am of the opinion, Mr James, despite your arguments, that a conviction should be entered”.

Dressed in a lightweight cream sweater, cream tank top and matching jersey pants with a blue mask over her face and hair in a ponytail, Malouf arrived with an entourage of five, including her father, Sydney solicitor Stephen O’Ryan QC.

Malouf, who looked nervous in court as her lawyer presented nine documents, then fled the John Maddison Tower court complex sobbing and protected by friends and family on the street after Judge O’Brien’s decision .

The court heard Malouf jumped in his 4×4 to drop off a primary school friend of one of his three daughters at home in April after the child became ‘distressed’ and his own parents were too drunk to drive.

Dressed in light cream-coloured clothing, Malouf Malouf arrived protected by an entourage of five, including her lawyer father, and then fled sobbing, after Judge O’Brien asked her why she would drive a child drunk 9 year old instead of calling an Uber

Crown prosecutor Daryl Gunter told the court Malouf recorded a mid-range alcohol reading among NSW’s drink-driving statistics, which also included 250 deaths and serious injuries a year.

The death rate had dropped by 1,200 a year, but he said it was still “awful” and despite Greg James’ submission Malouf “didn’t have a bit of booze…you were really quite drunk”.

Mr Gunter asked why neither Malouf nor the parents of the nine-year-old – who were ‘entertaining’ – could have just ‘cab a taxi’.

Phoebe Malouf was arrested on April 8 this year Malouf, after drinking what police described as “two cups of vodka, lemon and soda of unknown size” and dropping off one of her children’s friends during a sleepover.

The court heard on Thursday that the girl had become angry and that Malouf, dressed in her “pajamas and her ugg boots”, had decided to drive the girl 2.2 km from Malouf’s home in Vaucluse.

According to the facts of the police, the mother of private school Kincoppal Rose Bay drank vodka while eating Indian food at home for three hours from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

She then drove her black Toyota Landcruiser Sahara 4WD with personalized plates down New South Head Road and was stopped at 10:46 p.m. by an Eastern Suburbs Highway Patrol RBT.

Malouf, 40, drank “two cups of vodka, lemon and soda of unknown size” during a three-hour dinner between 6 and 9 p.m., then was arrested by an RBT at 10:46 p.m.

Malouf, wife of hotel baron Jamie Malouf, was arrested and blew .088. After her sentencing in May, she went to a police station to have her photograph taken and fingerprinted.

The Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation committee member passed a positive roadside breath test, which was later tested at 0.088.

When Malouf was unable to produce her licence, she was taken into custody and taken in a police vehicle to Waverley Police Station.

At 11:31 p.m., Malouf tested positive for drink-driving, her license was suspended, and she was charged and ordered to appear in local court at the Downing Center.

On May 20, Deputy Chief Magistrate Theo Tsavdaridis sentenced Malouf and she later went to a police station for a police photo and fingerprinting.

Malouf, whose husband Jamie Malouf owns a string of hotels including the Royal Oak Hotel in Double Bay, used his charity work to try to appeal to the magistrate last month for a reduced sentence.

Malouf’s attorney, Petros Macarounas, told the court she was instrumental in raising more than $3.5 million.

Phoebe Malouf (right) used her multimillion-dollar charity fundraiser to try to reduce her sentence, then appealed in district court against the ‘severity’ of an $800 fine and three months in jail disqualification

Wealthy charity Phoebe Malouf hid behind an entourage after fleeing a court hearing on Thursday where she was blasted by a judge for drunk driving and a potential risk to the safety of others

Malouf, who according to police facts, previously committed a drunk driving offense in 2013, was ordered to pay an $800 fine, had his license disqualified for three months, with a new order to use an anti-theft device on his steering wheel for 12 months, which will require getting on his car at his expense.

On Thursday, Malouf’s new lawyer, Greg James, argued for the conviction and lockdown order to be dropped because it was embarrassing to use the device in front of children every time she used the car.

Judge O’Brien granted the application on the lockdown, granting Malouf a waiver, acknowledging that she suffered “from recurring anxiety, ongoing shame and (was) wracked with guilt”.

Mr. James submitted four references, one from her hotelier husband, a letter from her doctor, a record of her medical appointments and a psychologist’s report.