Sarah Josephine Liberty fined for ‘quarantine escape’

A woman who returned to Sydney from Paris on Thursday has become the first person in mandatory quarantine in NSW to be fined for breaching a public health order after she allegedly was involved in a struggle with a security guard and escaped from her hotel room.

Social media influencer Sarah Josephine Liberty

A woman who returned to Sydney from Paris on Thursday has become the first person in mandatory quarantine in NSW to be fined for breaching a public health order after she allegedly was involved in a struggle with a security guard and escaped from her hotel room.

Sarah Josephine Liberty, who hosts a weekly podcast called Feminist Friday, sparked a hunt on Saturday after she fled the Marriott Hotel on Pitt Street at about 10pm and disappeared into Sydney’s CBD.

Ms Liberty, who recently changed her last name from Thompson, was stopped by police about 45 minutes later at Circular Quay and fined $1000. In a statement, NSW Police said a security guard confronted Ms Liberty, 38, as she approached a fire exit on Saturday night.

Ms Liberty has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. 

Police said a “short struggle” broke out between the pair and Ms Liberty ran through the fire exit and was chased on foot before she disappeared from sight.

The security guard returned to the hotel and alerted police inside the hotel to the incident. A search was initiated, and Ms Liberty was found at Circular Quay about 10.45pm on Saturday, police said.  

Ms Liberty, who is from Potts Point, was taken to hospital for an assessment and released a short time later before being transferred back to a hotel managed by NSW Health.

In a statement, Ms Liberty disputed the allegations and said she had never been "placed under arrest". 

"I was escorted back to the hotel room by the police after briefly leaving the hotel for a few minutes because I was desperate to get fresh air, after I felt significantly anxious from being locked in a room with no fresh air or sunlight for three days," she said. "At no point did the police say to me that I was under arrest. 

"I am a human rights advocate and NGO executive who has lived and worked on four continents, and who is also a radio presenter and podcaster. I have a deep commitment to others' human rights, and to public safety - having worked in the human rights and humanitarian sectors for the majority of my career."  

The Australian understands Ms Liberty arrived in Sydney from Paris on Thursday and had spent just two days in quarantine before making her dash for freedom on Saturday.

On Friday, Ms Liberty told her thousands of Instagram followers that she had been hit by a “wave of anxiety” after she realised she would be “locked in a hotel room for the next two weeks”.

“I’ll confess, it brought me to tears,” she wrote. “I am strong, but after facing months on confinement in Paris, I just want to run to the ocean, eat Sydney Thai (nothing beats it), and a huge plate of oysters. Instead, I’m in a hotel room with instant coffee, weatbix [sic] and not much else.

“Having said that, I understand why confinement is necessary and am so happy to be home. So wish me Bon Courage for the next two weeks, and watch out for me when I’m released! I’m a woman on a mission.”

Ms Liberty is understood to have spent about 24 hours in transit, which involved travelling between Paris, London, and Abu Dhabi.

Police attended Ms Liberty’s hotel room following the incident and noted that the sprinkler systems had allegedly been “significantly damaged”. Inquiries into the damage are under way and further legal action is expected to be taken, police said.

Ms Liberty’s website is replete with information about her accomplishments, including claims that she is an Ambassador for UN Women’s #GenerationEquality campaign.

According to her website, Ms Liberty is also a social entrepreneur, writer, podcaster, and human rights academic, whose career has spanned senior roles at international NGOs in London, New York, and Paris.

NSW Police are managing 19 hotels across Sydney CBD with 5761 people in mandatory quarantine, while NSW Health has an additional 597 people in six hotels.

Almost 34,000 people have entered into mandatory quarantine hotels in NSW, and Ms Liberty is the state’s first returned traveller to be fined for breaching a public health order.

In September, Ms Liberty said she had still not received a Public Infringement Notice more than two months after the alleged incident. 

NSW Health has been contacted for comment.