Queensland visitor charged with failing to comply with COVID laws

A Queensland visitor who police claim lied about where he lived, went camping and visited a restaurant days after arriving in the state has been sent into enforced quarantine at a Tasmanian hotel.

A QUEENSLAND tourist who allegedly told Tasmania Police coronavirus was a hoax and gave a false local address has been charged and bailed straight into quarantine in a Devonport hotel — a week after he touched down.

Magistrate Tamara Jago told David Joseph McDonnell, 38, that he would be arrested if he breached the 14-day hotel isolation order and would spend the balance in custody.

“Despite your views on the legitimacy of the COVID-19 pandemic, you are directed to stay at the hotel until midnight on June 18,” he said.

Mr McDonnell, who appeared in the Burnie Magistrate’s Court yesterday via Zoom from the Burnie Police Station, has been charged with failing to comply with the Director of Public Health.

MORE NEWS:

• Tassie flights to NZ possible before interstate travel
• Man fronts court on anti-bikie raids

Prosecutors say McDonnell arrived in Tasmania from interstate on June 4, and told authorities upon his arrival that he lived in Queenstown on the state’s west coast.

McDonnell has not lived there since 2016.

An original quarantine order was made, based on the information given that McDonnell was a Tasmanian returning home from interstate, but police will allege that McDonnell did not comply.

The police charge sheet says McDonnell was contacted by police after his arrival but he terminated the calls.

Prosecutors claim he then hired a camper van and was spotted by an off-duty police officer dining at Mecca Restaurant in Burnie.

He also visited Flex Realty on June 10, before he was found by police sleeping in a camper at a free-park area at Cooee.

The prosecution says he declined to answer questions and refused to wear a face mask when directed to by police, saying the virus emergency was a hoax.

McDonnell’s lawyer told the court his client had instructed that he would now comply with the enforced quarantine and understood the gravity of his situation.

Magistrate Jago adjourned the complaint until June 30, and said the court case could be heard via telephone if McDonnell decided to return to Queensland after he was released from isolation.

There is no indication McDonnell is carrying coronavirus.