Woman jailed after leaving medi-hotel room to speak to man

A fully vaccinated woman who breached quarantine to socialise with a man across the corridor in her medi-hotel has been jailed and lectured.

A young woman responsible enough to get vaccinated, but too irresponsible to obey mandatory quarantine, has been sentenced and lectured by an Adelaide court.

In the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday, Isabell Grant, 18, of Keswick, pleaded guilty to breaching the state’s Covid-19 restrictions.

She admitted that, having returned from interstate and while serving mandatory quarantine at the Pullman Hotel on October 28, she left her room and entered a fellow detainee’s room across the corridor.

The incident was among several alleged breaches that month – one prompted police to enter the hotel with a battering ram and bolt cutters, another allegedly involved drugs being disguised as a food delivery.

Police at the Pullman Hotel after a previous incident. Picture: Dixie Sulda

On Thursday, the court heard the other room’s male occupant – who is also facing charges – had earlier breached quarantine to speak to Grant from outside her room.

In sentencing, Magistrate Brett Dixon told Grant she would have received a more severe sentence were she not fully vaccinated.

However, he said her double dose status neither excused nor minimised her blatant disregard of state law.

“We live in difficult times, some would say frightening times,” he said.

“There are those in the community who, for health reasons, cannot have the vaccine and therefore live in constant fear of contracting the virus.

“It’s the responsibility of us all to do all that we possibly can to ensure we minimise the risk of spreading the virus to others.”

Mr Dixon said the need to minimise that risk was why Grant had been quarantined, despite her vaccination status.

He said that, while Grant herself had posed a minimal risk, a “message must be sent” to others who would ignore the state’s rules.

“To send that message to the community in these difficult times, the only appropriate sentence is one of imprisonment,” he said.

He jailed Grant for nine days, saying it would have been 14 days if not for her guilty plea and vaccination status.