A 51-year-old Merriwa man has been fined $10,000 (plus costs) over a series of COVID-19 self-quarantine breaches in January this year.
The man had flown to Perth from Brisbane on Thursday, 7 January 2021. On Friday, 8 January 2021 following the COVID-19 outbreak in Queensland, anyone who had arrived in Western Australia from Queensland since 2 January 2021 was required to self-quarantine for 14 days.
The man nominated an address in Merriwa to self-quarantine until 21 January 2021.
Between Thursday, 14 January and Friday, 15 January 2021 the man breached the direction on three separate locations; twice when he drove with a family member to local shops and once when he visited the house of the family member over 100 kilometres away. At no time did the man or family member wear a mask.
On Saturday, 16 January the man was interviewed by the Breach Investigation Team and was charged with three counts of Fail to Comply with a Direction.
He was convicted of all charges in the Joondalup Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 8 February and fined a total of $10,000 plus costs.
