Tim Gunn pleads guilty to escaping from quarantine, making misleading statements, and domestic order violence breaches

A man who left hotel quarantine – sending southern Tasmania into a snap lockdown – has pleaded guilty to the escape. HIS APOLOGETIC STATEMENT >>

TIM Gunn’s fate hangs in the balance with Acting Magistrate Sam Mollard saying he has plenty to consider before sentencing the Albury man.

The 31-year-old became a household name when he lied about travelling from NSW during the pandemic and escaped from hotel quarantine while he was unknowingly Covid-positive.

Gunn pleaded guilty in the Hobart Magistrates Court on Monday to a long list of charges, including one count of knowingly providing false or misleading information, two counts of failing to comply with a lawful requirement or direction of an emergency management worker, two counts of making a false or misleading statement and one count of possessing a thing used for administration of a controlled drug.

The concreter also pleaded guilty to 17 counts of breaching a nationally recognised domestic violence order.

Tim Gunn. Picture: Facebook

Tasmania Police principal legal officer Mark Miller said two of Gunn’s passes to travel into Tasmania from NSW had been denied.

He eventually made his way from Wodonga to Melbourne and travelled to Hobart from there on October 11, claiming in his travel pass he was from Tasmania and he had been in only Queensland for the past 14 days.

Mr Miller said when Gunn was asked about his travel movements by Hobart Airport staff, he “would not make eye contact with the biosecurity officer and stumbled when he answered the question”.

He soon admitted to police he was not from Tasmania.

Gunn was taken to the Travelodge Hotel in the city to quarantine, but he left the hotel without permission that day.

Gunn went with his partner on the afternoon of October 12 to Woolworths in Bridgewater and other locations, including her home.

A national domestic order had been made in NSW in April prohibiting him from contacting her.

Mr Miller said police brought Gunn from Bridgewater to the Royal Hobart Hospital where he tested positive to Covid-19, pushing southern Tasmania into a snap three-day lockdown.

Tim Gunn. Picture: Facebook

The court heard Gunn failed to tell contact tracers where he had been and who his close contacts were.

He incurred further charges for possessing two ice pipes and contacting his girlfriend via mobile phone almost every day from October 13 to 26.

Though he breached his domestic violence order several times, Mr Miller said Gunn’s partner was a willing participant.

“She wanted to resume the relationship which ... is not uncommon for victims of family violence,” Mr Miller said.

Defence counsel Pip Monk said Gunn had a rough childhood.

She said he was living with depression and drug issues, made worse when he lost his job during the pandemic.

She said Gunn’s partner was attempting to vary the domestic violence order so the pair could resume their relationship and said Gunn hoped to return to the mainland.

Ms Monk said Gunn’s own words were he was “fully aware” he had had a big effect on the community.

“I can understand the anger and frustration directed towards me by Tasmanians who had been doing well as far as Covid was concerned,” Ms Monk read from a statement by Gunn.

Ms Monk asked for a suspended jail sentence to be imposed.

Acting Magistrate Mollard said he had a lot to consider in the case, which Mr Miller said was the first of its kind in Tasmania.

Gunn was remanded in custody to reappear on December 21, where he will be sentenced.

Originally published as Tim Gunn pleads guilty to escaping from quarantine, making misleading statements, and domestic order violence breaches