Bernard Shackcloth handed suspended sentence for Adelaide Airport Covid breach
A man who lied at an Adelaide Airport checkpoint has told a court he faced desperate circumstances when he broke border laws.
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A man who lied to police after flying from Melbourne to Adelaide says he only breached Covid-19 laws because he was busting for the loo.
Bernard Arthur Shackcloth, 49, cried in court on Monday as he was handed a suspended sentence for his “irresponsible and foolish” decision to lie to authorities about where he travelled from.
The Adelaide Magistrates Court heard police were processing arrivals from a Melbourne flight at Adelaide Airport on August 13.
“The accused advised the police that he just arrived from Alice Springs from another gate,” the police prosecutor said. Shackcloth was then allowed to leave the airport.
The prosecutor said a review of passenger information revealed Shackcloth had arrived from Melbourne, not Alice Springs.
Shackcloth, from Fannie Bay in the Northern Territory, was arrested at a city hotel later that night. He told the court he had recently started taking medication that increased his cholesterol levels but led to an unwanted side effect.
“To keep my cholesterol under control, for breakfast I had All-Bran and skim milk,” said Shackcloth, who represented himself. “So, it’s good for cholesterol but when you gotta go, you gotta go.”
Shackcloth said police saw his NT driver’s licence and asked if he had come from Alice Springs.
“I was thinking I will literally soil my pants in the middle of Adelaide Airport; I was on the brink,” he said.
“My ears hadn’t popped so I couldn’t hear exactly what she was saying to me. I was just agreeing with her so I could go to the toilet behind her.
“I was in dire straits … I’m only human.”
Shackcloth pleaded guilty to breaching a Covid-19 direction. Magistrate Chris Smolicz described his actions as “irresponsible and foolish”.
“This offending is extremely serious; it’s more serious than you needing to go to the toilet,” he said.
Mr Smolicz sentenced Shackcloth to 13 days in jail, suspended on a 12-month, $500 good-behaviour bond.
Meanwhile, Premier Steven Marshall said a report into a Covid breach in which a man in quarantine left his city medi-hotel for eight hours last Thursday would be released publicly once completed.
MORE ALLEGED COVID-19 BREACHERS AND THEIR EXCUSES
Four further alleged Covid-19 breachers have appeared in court, including a duo on a removalist job and a Queensland man who allegedly refused to co-operate with police at the airport.
Yarleys Mosquera Romana, 27, and Sebastian Duque Villegas, 26, were charged with breaching a Covid-19 direction after a car crash in Pasadena on August 14.
Villegas, of Reservoir, who did not apply for bail in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday, was allegedly the driver of the truck which had Victorian licence plates.
On further inspection, police allegedly found Romana and Villegas did not have the correct permits to be in SA.
Alex Jackson, for Romana, told the court Romana was told by Villegas that he had completed all the necessary paperwork to travel into the state.
“I’m told that the co-accused is a removalist and asked this defendant to assist in the removalist job, driving items into South Australia,” he said.
Mr Jackson asked for Romana to be bailed to South Yarra, Melbourne.
“She has no finances available to her to try and secure some alternative accommodation in South Australia, like a hotel,” he said.
Magistrate Chris Smolicz refused Romana’s bail and both Romana’s and Villegas’ charges were adjourned until later this month.
Joshua James Flavel, 39, also applied for bail in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday after traveling from Queensland on August 14, when was approached by police about why he wasn’t wearing a mask.
The court heard Flavel allegedly refused to show police his mask exemption, take a Covid-19 test or provide his details.
“He became very vocal, shouting and attempting to push past police,” the police prosecutor said.
“He resisted police by thrashing his arms and legs around wildly.”
Alex Jackson, for Flavel, told the court Flavel had travelled to SA with his wife and two children as his mother had suffered a heart attack.
“He was advised by Queensland Health that there were no travel restrictions between South Australia and Queensland,” he said.
The court heard Flavel had an exemption for wearing a mask as he was the victim of an assault earlier this year.
Magistrate Chris Smolicz said it seemed implausible that Flavel would have been given incorrect information.
Mr Smolicz refused Flavel bail and adjourned the charges until later this month.
A fifth alleged Covid-19 breacher, Grant William Kelly, 30, was arrested on Sunday at Calperum Station, just outside Renmark, after allegedly driving through the border checkpoint on the Wentworth to Renmark Road in the Riverland.
Police who were pursuing Kelly saw the car turn into a house on Government Road, where he allegedly entered a shed and tried unsuccessfully to steal a car.
Kelly then allegedly entered a neighbouring house where he assaulted the residents and stole a set of car keys.
He then allegedly ran from the residence and smashed the window of a car in the driveway before going to the garage and attempting to steal a motorcycle.
Kelly, of no fixed address, made no application for bail via video link from the Berri Magistrates Court and his charges were adjourned until January.
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