Brittany Katrine Barrett in court for Queensland border protest

A woman who told police she was “protected under UN conventions” while being arrested for a border protest has fronted court for her act of defiance.

A Tweed Heads South woman with almost 3000 Facebook followers told police she was “protected under UN conventions” when she was arrested for attending a Covid protest at the state border.

Brittany Katrine Barrett, 39, pleaded guilty in Murwillumbah Local Court on Monday to unlawfully participating in an outdoor gathering during a stay at home period.

According to the police facts, Barrett attended a protest at the Queensland state border on August 22, 2021, with up to 2000 other people.

Police believed Barrett was an organiser and an agitator within the Tweed Shire.

Video evidence included Barrett live streaming herself at the protest on a Facebook under the name Britt X Barrett.

Police attended Barrett’s home on September 15 to arrest her.

The court heard she told officers “I was there but it was a peaceful assembly which should be protected under the UN conventions”.

Barrett’s public Facebook page has 2907 followers.

Defence lawyer Tenika Vakauta told the court Barrett had felt a need to voice her opinion after her partner lost work, which resulted in her returning to work for the first time in six years, causing her severe stress.

Ms Vakauta said her client didn’t realise the protest was “criminal” and if she had known she wouldn’t have attended.

She disagreed with the allegation Barrett was an organiser and said the height of her involvement was posting instructions on how to attend online.

Ms Vakauta told the court her client also had a number of mental health issues.

Magistrate Geoff Dunlevy told Barrett by attending her actions showed she was “happy to potentially get Covid” knowing it was highly contagious and potentially deadly.

“People who have severe cases of Covid are in much worse situations than you,” Mr Dunlevy said.

“People are dying by the dozens in Australia every day.”

He said her actions were “dangerous” and “selfish” however accepted she was remorseful and pleaded guilty early.

Barrett was convicted and sentenced to a two year community corrections order.