Anti-vaxxer ex-Alice Springs cops Leah Tomkins and Carey Brian Joy fined $22,000

Two ex-cops have learnt the ‘consequences’ for lying about their vaccination status while hopping across the NT border. Read the latest here.

Former NT police officers Leah Tomkins and Carey Joy have been sentenced in court in the NT on June 17, 2025.

An anti-vaxxer Territory cop who jumped the border with her hubby and lied to her bosses has been slapped with a $15,000 fine by the courts.

On Tuesday Leah Tomkins was sentenced for unlawfully causing the modification of data while employed as an Alice Springs NT Police prosecutor three years ago.

Tomkins and her husband — business owners and ex-Territory Response Group member — Carey Brian Joy were also fined for obtaining benefit by deception after lying about their vaccine status on their statutory declarations while crossing the Northern Territory-South Australian border in January 2022.

The Darwin Local Court heard Tomkins went on medical leave from the police force a week after the Covid vaccine mandate was announced on October 13, 2021.

All workers in the Territory were given until November 12, to have at least one dose and by Christmas Eve to be fully vaccinated.

Former NT Police constable first class and prosecutor Leah Tomkins. Picture: NT Police/ Facebook

Yet with only 10 days before the December double-dose deadline, Tomkins contacted her supervisor claiming to have a medical certificate allowing her to resume her duties once she returned to work.

But when she went to meet her boss, Tomkins claimed she “didn’t have the formal vaccination certificate at hand”, instead showing a document which falsely suggested she had been to a medical appointment and had received both doses.

Outside of court in 2023, Tomkins claimed to a far-right political and social commentary media website Rebel News that the fake vaccine certificate was a meme that listed her name and date of birth as “go f**k yourself”.

But in court Ms Austin said the document Tomkins presented “suggested she had been to two doctors to receive vaccinations”, convincing her superior to change her internal files.

This restored her access to police systems and caused a “chain reaction” of human resources notifications all the way to the top brass of the NT Police force, to assistant commissioner Bruce Porter.

“She got an advantage over everybody else in the workplace at the time, who would have had to comply (with the mandate) … and it would have eroded the trust and confidence in other people in her position,” Ms Austin said.

A month later Tomkins and Joy went on a holiday trip to South Australia, both signing statutory declarations stating they were vaccinated and lying to police.

Former NT Police Territory Response Group member Carey Joy outside the Alice Springs Local Court. Picture: Jason Walls

Ms Austin said the couple lied by ticking the “fully vaccinated” box on their entry forms, and then intentionally deceived NT Police officers at the border in remaining silent while their declarations were read aloud.

She said this allowed the couple to not only skirt the laws and regulations during the public health crisis, but also likely avoided the need to pay for their stay in a quarantine facility for 14-days, at $2500 per adult.

Ms Austin said regardless of whether they agreed with the Covid laws, the Alice Springs couple were not immune from the consequences of breaking the law.

“They were never going to be forced to be vaccinated by anybody — but there were consequences,” she said.

“All over the world people were dying at an alarming rate, regardless of what people want and think and say in hindsight.

“And in Australia criminal sanctions … were created to manage the risk of the spread of the disease, which was unknown and was deemed a pandemic.

“I do not find that the deliberate, intentional thwarting and avoidance of laws and public policy directions put in place … is a victimless crime.”

Tomkins and Joy’s defence lawyer Simon Lapinski. Picture: Gera Kazakov

Ms Austin completely rejected claims by Tomkins and Joy that the stress of “attempting to navigate a once in a lifetime global pandemic” and their anxieties about vaccines and government regulations diminished their moral culpability for their “inherently dishonest” acts.

She decided not to record a conviction given the couple’s prior good character, with Tomkins having served as a constable first class until she became a prosecutor in the court, while Joy was with the NT Police for 16 years.

Joy previously gave evidence during the Kumanjayi Walker inquest alleging racist practices within the NT Police force, with his statutory declaration signed by Tomkins.

Ms Austin also flagged that any “dishonesty” conviction could impact Tomkins aspirations for a future legal career, flagging that she still may not pass the NT Law Society’s ‘fit and proper person test’.

The couple were fined a total of $21,950, with Joy slapped with $6650 in penalties while Tomkins got $15,300.

Originally published as Anti-vaxxer ex-Alice Springs cops Leah Tomkins and Carey Brian Joy fined $22,000