A student has been fined £6,600 after she was found to have broken quarantine rules by going shopping, visiting a friend and eating at a restaurant, having baited herself up by sharing the evidence on Instagram.
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Carys Ann Ingram, 22, was AWOL when contact tracing teams visited her family’s home where she was meant to be self-isolating after flying to Jersey from Salford – one of the biggest Covid hotspots in the UK.
There was no answer at the door and so she was contacted by phone and later arrested, reports the Metro.
In court it was revealed she had been to El Tico restaurant in St Ouen’s Bay, from where she shared a picture to Instagram.
Carys was meant to be in isolation until receiving a second negative test, which she should have taken on day 5 of her visit. However, she was out and about in St Helier on the third day of her trip.
It was later discovered someone sitting near her on the flight had tested positive, and so Carys was contacted and told she must self-isolate and would have to take another test eight days after her arrival.
She was given the option of paying £6,600 in fines for four offences or going to prison for six months (harsh?!) and opted for the former.
Caroline Maffia, from the contact tracing team, says:
It is regrettable that someone should endanger the health of other Islanders after being informed of the need to self-isolate.
This fine demonstrates that we will pursue prosecution for those found flouting the law. Anyone identified as a direct contact of a Covid-positive person must understand the importance of following public health advice and abiding by the law.
Well I guess the threat of jail time and outrageous fines is a good deterrent, but you can’t help but note that someone like Dominic Cummings got away with similar behaviour while the common man and woman get punished to the full extent of the law. Doesn’t really seem fair, does it?
Still, travelling to an area with a high infection rate and refusing to quarantine while also sharing pictures of your day out on Instagram isn’t the brightest idea anyone’s ever dad. Although she probably would have got away with it if she had just been inside the moment the track & trace people turned up. Maybe she could have answered their call later and said she was asleep/in the shower? As long as she deleted the photos off Instagram, they wouldn’t have been able to prove she was flouting quarantine rules.
Oh well, too late now. Carys is now minus £6,600 but on the plus side she’s avoided 6 months in jail. Wasn’t community service an option? Guess not.
To watch a lady slap her husband on an EasyJet flight after he went on an anti-mask rant, click HERE. Well deserved.
