Paul McElhinney: Man who walked out of hotel quarantine to drink at pub ‘cracked’ from ’emotional response’ to dad’s death
The NSW resident who lied to police and walked out of hotel quarantine to go to the pub has been sentenced to jail.
The reason a returned Australian lied his way out of hotel quarantine and went to the pub in the middle of the night has been explained as an “emotional response” to his father’s death.
Paul McElhinney, 33, pleaded guilty to breaching Covid-19 directions under the Emergency Management Act after he escaped from his room at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Adelaide’s CBD about 10pm on August 12 and visited a number of businesses along Hindley St during the night.
The father from Sydney apologised for his actions in the Adelaide Magistrates Court last week, saying it was a “mistake” and asked if he could return home to his wife and children.
“I understand I did the wrong thing. I apologise for that,” Mr McElhinney said.
“It was a mistake (and) out of character.”
Appearing again on Wednesday, he was sentenced to 14 days imprisonment, backdated to last Wednesday when he was first taken into custody.
He will be released in seven days.
Magistrate John Fahey said McElhinney’s action had the potential to spread Covid-19 to anyone at any of the businesses he visited and his decision to ignore the quarantine requirements could have jeopardised precautions taken by authorities and the general public to keep the virus at bay.
“Fortunately, you were not contagious and your irresponsible actions did not have the effect of spreading the virus,” the magistrate said.
“The fact is: you may have spread the virus, you may have endangered the health of others and you caused significant problems for the police who have had to deploy additional resources to find you.
“Even though you had (only) been in Adelaide for days, you could not have been unaware of the sensitivity of the Covid-19 issue here and throughout the country and the need for the entire community to act responsibly.”
The magistrate said consequences for the man’s actions were needed as well as a general deterrence for the wider community from doing the same thing.
“The community needs to know there will be serious consequences for those who flaunt the emergency regulations.”
The court heard McElhinney had almost completed his 14 days of isolation when he left the hotel, which was in an “emotional response” to his father’s death and separation from his family.
“You just cracked,” Magistrate Fahey said.
“I believe you are a good man who has had a difficult and emotionally testing time over recent weeks … (and) ought to be distressing.”
McElhinney landed in Adelaide on August 3 on a Singapore repatriation flight after travelling to Scotland to attend his father’s funeral.
The court heard the fully vaccinated man received both of Pfizer jabs while in Scotland and had tested negative before he left the country and again in Singapore.
During his last appearance, Magistrate Fahey warned the defendant that jail time was appropriate for such serious offending.
The court previously heard McElhinney used the emergency exit to walk downstairs into the hotel's basement car park and lied to police officers about leaving a nearby pub and stumbling across the carpark.
The man was ushered away from the premises and visited the McDonald’s restaurant along Hindley St and The Duke of York Hotel located in nearby Currie St.
McElhinney spent about eight hours in the community before returning to the hotel at about 6am on August 13, “puffed out, tired and quite intoxicated” which was when police became aware of the breach.
He returned negative Covid-19 results on his day one, five and nine tests and was retested the day of the breach, which also came back negative.
An incident report was also given to Police Commissioner Grant Stevens, who publicly detailed the events last Wednesday.
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