Superspreader Melbourne truck driver fined $1652
A superspreader truck driver who sparked chaos in Shepparton and Kilmore after seeding coronavirus from Melbourne has escaped charges, and will receive a relatively smaller fine.
Police & Courts
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The Melbourne truck driver who spread coronavirus to two regional towns will receive only a fine.
Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said police investigated the truckie who travelled to Kilmore and Shepparton in September after receiving a referral from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Mr Patton said the truck driver was issued a $1652 fine for dining at Oddfellows Cafe in Kilmore, where he was only permitted to get takeaway.
However, he will not be penalised for travelling to Shepparton and spreading the virus.
“We allocated some detectives to go interview that person and we issued him a fine for breaching CHO directions,” Mr Patton told 3AW.
“We looked at his conduct and investigators found that was the most appropriate outcome in the circumstances.
“He was interviewed. He was remorseful, I am told, but nonetheless we have issued him an infringement in the circumstances because his conduct required it.”
The truck driver was the cause of worrying clusters and business shutdowns in both Kilmore and Shepparton.
He travelled to Kilmore, Benalla and Shepparton areas on September 29 and 30.
However he concealed from contact tracers his visit to Shepparton and was only found out a fortnight later when a local woman tested positive to the virus.
The Shepparton cluster grew to three and sparked widespread panic among locals who queued for hours to be tested for the virus.
Many in the community were furious with the truckie and called for him to be jailed over his actions.
Under the public health act, it is an offence to hinder or obstruct an authorised officer, and under state of emergency powers it is an offence to provide false or misleading information — breaches which can each attract a $9913 fine.
But the truckie will not be charged under these laws.
The truck driver is the father of an apprentice employed at Chadstone’s The Butcher Club – which was linked to a cluster of cases.
His father was among those infected in Kilmore.
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