Jeremy Stuart Lee in court for being a public nuisance

A middle aged man who referred to the Covid check-in as a ‘surveillance app’ and told Gympie magistrate Chris Callaghan to stop ‘sneering’ at him has spent three days defending what he did after being asked to use the check-in. This is what the court was told.

A 52-year-old man caused a scene in front of the Gympie Centrelink when he refused to use the Covid-19 check-in app and tried to barge past security into the building.

Jeremy Stuart Lee was refused entry into the Centrelink building by a security guard on December 30, 2021 after he said that he did not want to use the “surveillance app”, Gympie Magistrates Court heard on July 26.

The manager was called, and Lee was told to use the phone to contact Centrelink if he did not want to check-in.

Lee represented himself during his court appearance, and told the court he told Centrelink staff that day that he was being denied service and had a right to enter the premises.

He tried to slip past the staff and through the doors multiple times before he was blocked by a security guard’s arm, the court heard.

Lee pushed against the arm, was pushed outside the doors and a fight ensued, it heard.

Jeremy Stuart Lee went to Gympie Magistrates Court after pleading not guilty to a public nuisance charge.

Lee resisted and held onto the door frames, and the pair pushed and pulled at each other.

Lee was let go, but tried to go in again despite the doors being locked. Police were called and he was arrested.

Lee refused to take off his mask and provide ID for police to identify him so he was taken to the Gympie watch house.

He was released on bail two days later.

The trial went on for three days which was delayed by Lee continuously asking “irrelevant” questions, Magistrate Chris Callaghan said.

Lee’s brother was ordered out of the courtroom on the second day after Lee tried to take notes from him during his cross-examination.

Lee shouted at Mr Callaghan during the trial to “stop sneering” at him, saying it was “annoying”.

“I’m not sneering at you, and you stop lying about that fact,” Mr Callaghan shouted.

During sentencing, Lee quietly asked for his “biometric data” to be deleted and for “the state to recognise they don’t own people or their biometric data”.

Lee was fined $800 for the offence and his behaviour in court, including his “false allegation” of Mr Callaghan sneering at him.

No conviction was recorded.