'I thought I was doing the right thing': Son who drove into Melbourne to check on his 84-year-old mother slams police for 'wrongly' fining him $1652 for breaking Stage 4 lockdown
- Victorian fined by police on his way home from checking on his elderly mother
- Lives in Stage 3 region but fined for breaching Stage 4 coronavirus restrictions
- Joe plans to contest the $1650 fine based on advice from local police officers
- His reasons for being in Melbourne on Sunday divided public opinion online
- Have for been fined for a similar reason? Email tips@dailymail.com
A man is refusing to pay his $1652 coronavirus fine after being pulled over by police while returning home from Melbourne to visit his elderly mother confined to her home during the city's Stage 4 lockdown.
Joe insists he didn't break the law when he travelled 41 kilometres from his Bacchus Marsh home to check on his ailing mum, 84, in Melbourne on Sunday.
As he lives in a Stage 3 lockdown region where residents can still travel for care and compassionate reasons, he was shocked to be pulled over and fined on the Western Freeway at Melton, 15 minutes away from home.
The infringement notice states he breached COVID-19 Stage 4 restrictions enforced in metropolitan Melbourne, which has divided public opinion online.
Police are cracking down on anyone breaching lockdown restrictions in Victoria. Pictured are officers patrolling the Melbourne CBD on Sunday
'A bit hard to understand the law when Vic Police has no f***** idea,' Joe captioned a photo of the fine on Facebook.
'Just got a $1652 fine for caring for my 84-year-old mother. Was asked if I was a doctor. I was fined for breaching stage 4 restrictions and told you should know living in stage 4, l explained I am not living in stage 4, was told everyone is in Stage 4, the whole state of Victoria.'
'Don't know what they were thinking.'
Joe (surname withheld) told Daily Mail Australia he plans to challenge to the fine after getting advice from officers at the local police station.
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But he has been put off from visiting his mum in Sunshine while Stage 4 restrictions remain in place.
'I went to see my mum, who's been struggling mentally as she's been confined to her home for the last six months,' Joe said.
'She doesn't have a car and she can't go anywhere, so she relies a lot on my sister and I.'
'I thought I was doing the right thing.'
Joe says he's been advised by police at his local station to challenge the fine (pictured)
Bacchus Marsh is regarded as regional Victoria, which has been in stage three lockdown since August 5.
'You must not travel into metropolitan Melbourne except for permitted work purposes, care and compassionate reasons or shopping for food and supplies,' the Department of Health and Human Services website states.
The website add that stricter Stage 4 restrictions apply 'if you live in metropolitan Melbourne', which includes shopping and exercising within a five kilometre radius of your home.
Joe insists he had a valid reason for being in Melbourne and claims he was told by police back home in Bacchus Marsh to not pay the fine.
'Police need to use common sense when issuing fines,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
'We should have the right to check on elderly family members.'
Officers in this police car (pictured) pulled Joe over on the Western Highway at Melton
Joe's Facebook post has since garnered 500 shares but has divided public opinion.
Many praised Joe for standing up his rights.
'100 per cent you need to contest it, they will throw it out of court,' one man commented.
But some agreed with the fine because Joe was travelling in a stage four lockdown area.
'There’s strict protocols in place and neglect is no excuse. I pity the fact that you have copped the ticket but take some responsibility here and not point fingers at those on the frontline,' one man wrote.
One woman added: 'Let's hope common sense prevails before then.'
Another added: 'It’s pretty bloody simple. You can’t dive from a stage 3 area into a stage 4 area and back again. You haven’t got a leg to stand on. You broke the law.'
Melburnians have had their movements restricted by draconian Stage 4 restrictions. Pictured are officers patrolling a usually busy Flinders Street station last Saturday night
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said officers 'actively review every fine to access whether they have been appropriately issued.'
'The standard procedural fairness process applies to those who receive fines under the chief health officer's stay-at-home directions.
Individuals can make applications to have a matter reviewed and if they are unsatisfied with the outcome of that review process,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
'All fines in relation to the chief health officer directions will be reviewed to determine whether they should be withdrawn or whether it was more appropriate to issue a warning.'
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