New Sensation Homes: Inside Danny Coyne’s journey from rogue builder to wellness guru to alleged thug

Danny Coyne, whose building company went belly-up as he binged on drugs and alcohol, has re-invented himself as a wellness guru at new-age retreat near Margaret River, treating addicts and other vulnerable patients. However, his new life is not all peace, light and meditation. The former boss of New Sensation Homes, which crashed in 2022, leaving customers, staff, subcontractors and suppliers in a world of financial pain, is due in Busselton Court House on Tuesday on a charge of common assault in circumstances of aggravation or racial aggravation. He’s also facing 30 charges of breaching protective bail conditions and is listed to appear via videolink in Perth Magistrates Court two days later. Mr Coyne is the program manager at Six Seasons Recovery, a “private holistic rehab and mental health retreat” in the State’s South West. On an earlier version of its website, he was described as the founder and program psychologist at the retreat, which started up last year. Mr Coyne addressed his addiction demons on the website. “After years of battling personal addiction, I finally hit rock bottom,” he wrote. “For a decade, I had relied on self-medication, losing myself and my identity along the way. It became clear that I no longer knew who I was, having spent most of my adult life buried in addiction. I didn’t know how to live a sober life. “Receiving treatment at one of Australia’s leading rehabilitation facilities, I became determined to reclaim my life and adopt a new approach to facing life’s challenges sober and substance-free. Through this journey and starting from the ground up, I discovered that there was a ‘Recipe for Healthy Living’ and realised that anyone seeking to improve their lives could follow it. “From my lived experience, and after completing a bachelor’s degree of psychological science, I knew I wanted to help others who were in the same place I once was. This desire drove the founding of Six Seasons Recovery here in the South West. As the first of its kind in Western Australia, we provide our guests with the time and tools to rediscover who they truly are. “Through Six Seasons Recovery, I have the privilege of walking this journey with you and offering what was given to me: the ability to find happiness and connect with yourself and those around you. Like me, you can rediscover how to love life again, to be yourself, and to love who you are.” The Sunday Times understands Mr Coyne doesn’t have a psychology degree, though he does have one in commerce. The $15,000-a-week retreat promises “a haven where you embark on a transformative path towards enduring wellness”. “Our commitment to your wellness extends beyond the present, ensuring a future filled with triumphs and transformative milestones.” Apart from substance abuse and addiction, it advertises that it also caters for people with depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, grief and eating disorders. It said it “welcomed guests from the age of 17, but may be able to support people aged 15 or 16 years if clinically suitable”. “Six Seasons Recovery is proud to offer residential respite programs for plan-managed and self-managed National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) individuals,” it stated. Other payment options included superannuation. “We’ll help you get in touch with a consultant who focuses on unlocking superannuation funds for mental health and addiction treatment. With a 100 per cent success rate in securing superannuation application approvals, we guarantee a smooth procedure,” the website stated. To practice psychology or call yourself a psychologist, it is mandatory to be registered with the Psychology Board of Australia, which Mr Coyne isn’t. Registration requires the completion of a six-year sequence of education and training. The company that operates the retreat, Six Seasons Recovery Pty Ltd, is owned by a friend and former New Sensation Homes sales consultant, Ruben Tiago Bettencourt. Mr Bettencourt registered the company in February last year. When New Sensation Homes crashed, some 52 houses were under construction. The liquidator reported unsecured creditors were owed $6.4 million. It transpired Mr Coyne had been borrowing outrageous sums from the business and was spending extravagantly to fund his hedonistic lifestyle prior to the collapse. He often partied nightly, with the high-end karaoke club, Galaxy Lounge, his favourite Northbridge hangout. He liked the venue so much, he named one of his racehorses Galaxy Affair. On one occasion, he hired a private jet to fly sales staff down to Bunbury for a day at the races there. Mr Coyne, as the sole director, personally owed $938,393 to the company at the time it went bust. Other business entities connected to Mr Coyne owed it an additional $624,716. Aside from his penchant for racehorses, Mr Coyne owned a flashy speedboat, jetskis, expensive watches and a wardrobe of designer clothes. In his report to creditors, liquidator David Hunt cited “high cash use” and “failure to meet statutory obligations” as reasons for the company’s failure. New Sensation Homes was still trading right up to the very end and taking deposits from customers, despite owing so much money some materials suppliers had cut it off. It failed to notify WA’s Building Services Board that it was financially struggling, as legally required. However, signs the business was in financial trouble were writ large — in graffiti on its half-built houses. On one Bennett Springs house, the words, “Coyne pay your bills” were spray-painted on a garage door with “Coyne owes money” daubed on a front window. Mr Coyne also had a company, The Home Loan Factory Pty Ltd, which provided finance for customers. That also went bust, owing the tax office $100,000 and owing New Sensation Homes $147,038. On the day New Sensation Homes entered liquidation, Mr Coyne sold his former home in Sorrento for $1m. Just two months earlier he sold a property in Cloverdale for $585,000. But in six months he was apparently broke. He declared himself bankrupt in October last year, owing $4.25m. Before his bankruptcy, he lived in suites at Crown Towers in Burswood before residing for two years at the upmarket QT Hotel on Murray Street, Perth. Mr Coyne told his bankruptcy trustees he no longer had the speedboat, jetskis, expensive watches, designer clothes or racehorses. Several of Mr Coyne’s other companies followed New Sensation Homes into receivership. They included Perth Works Contracting Pty Ltd, which owed $146,085; Coyne Property Group, which owed $13,314 and Coyne Group Holdings, which owed $818,092.