Would-be quarantine escapee freed, says he will sue Victorian government
The man who tried to make a run from Melbourne’s hotel quarantine claims he plans to sue the Victorian government.
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A man who tried to escape from hotel quarantine has finished his two-week stint and says he is headed straight to see lawyers to sue the state government.
John-Lee Berridge was cleared to leave the Novotel South Wharf on Monday night, nine days after his ill-fated attempt to flee from the Tullamarine Holiday Inn.
The 24-year-old insists his case was bungled by health authorities and that he should not have been in quarantine in the first place.
Mr Berridge, an interior designer, is from Melbourne but spent 2020 living in Maroubra, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
He flew to Avalon Airport on December 21 before the midnight deadline for Victorians returning from NSW.
He argued he had the right travel permit but health officials disagreed and transferred him to hotel quarantine.
After five nights at the hotel, he said his anxiety contributed to him making the decision to make a run for it.
He made it past five guards before being halted by police at the carpark of the Tullamarine Holiday Inn.
On Monday, he said he was still unsure if he would be fined $19,000 for the escape attempt, and whether he had to foot the bill for his 14-night hotel stay.
But he said he wouldn’t be paying a cent and was determined to pursue his legal case against the state government.
“I’ve been working it through with the lawyer, he said I’ve got a solid case after everything that I’ve been through and all the documentation I’ve got,” he said.
“Everyone I’ve spoken to has said ‘don’t let it slip away’ because that’s what the department of health are thinking that I’m just going to brush it off.”
He said after a “depressing” New Year’s, he was glad to be out of the hotel to spend time with family.
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