No jail for man who breached quarantine for a beer in Northbridge
A Perth man who breached quarantine after complaining of chest pains before taking off for a beer at Hotel Northbridge will not be sent to prison, but will have to pay a $7500 fine.
He will also need to pay court costs of $248.
Paul Lawrence, 53, arrived at Perth Airport in August after visiting family in Queensland but did not have a valid G2G exemption.
Paul Lawrence was charged with breaching hotel quarantine.
After complaining to authorities about chest pains, he was taken to hospital in an ambulance for treatment and told to wait for an escort to a quarantine hotel.
But he took off on foot, checking into a nearby backpackers' hostel and going out to the busy Hotel Northbridge instead.
Police swooped onto the Lake Street premises shortly after, arresting the man and telling punters attending a karaoke night to head straight home and quarantine.
Attendees at the karaoke night said some patrons went out to other venues after the hotel was shut despite being told to self-isolate.
Hotel Northbridge closed down for the rest of the night while staff carried out a thorough clean of the facilities.
Paul Lawrence, 53, speaks outside court after being fined for breaching quarantine. Credit:Lauren Pilat
Lawrence told Nine News Perth he had been confused.
"There was a bit of misunderstanding and confusion about quarantine," he said.
"I didn't mean to cause any grievance and I'm going to send an apology letter to the hotel."
Following the incident, Australian Medical Association WA president Andrew Miller took aim at the state government's management of quarantine requirements, saying it had "leaks all over the place" that could lead to a second wave similar to the situation in Victoria.
"We've got leaks all over the place where COVID could get into our community and one day we are going to be unlucky enough that it'll start to spread," he said.
"We thought that there were enormous resources being thrown at this by the government, why do they not know where people are who are supposed to be quarantining when we've got the technology in our pockets?"
Lauren is a casual journalist at WAtoday who reports on education and general news.