The two people were each fined £10,000 and transported to a designated quarantine hotel, where they will be staying for at least 10 days
A man and woman have now both been fined £10,000 each for failing to quarantine after returning from Dubai, police have said. The pair will also be required to pay the £1,750 cost for the hotel on top of the fine.
Merseyside Police have said that fixed penalty notices for failing to comply with the current travel regulations had been handed to two people from the Wirral after they avoided a direct flight back from Dubai, which is currently on the UK’s foreign travel red list, to one of the specified ports of entry required for the coronavirus quarantine.
A spokesperson for the police force has said that they received a report last Tuesday and following an investigation into the events, on Friday both were fined and transported to a designated quarantine hotel.
This come after airlines have said that they have already seen a surge in holiday bookings following the PM’s announcement of the road map out of the nationwide lockdown. On Holiday bookings, the Prime Minister has said that a global travel taskforce would put forward a report on how to return to international travel on the 12th of April.
Chief Inspector Chris Barnes said: “Strict rules around international travel have been put in place by the government for a reason, and to disregard them in this way is selfish, inconsiderate, and potentially dangerous.
“Currently, the regulations mean that if you are a British or Irish national, or you have residence rights in the UK and are returning from a country on the foreign travel red list, you must quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days.
Mr Barnes went on to say:
“If you are required to quarantine at a hotel, you can only arrive in England at certain ports of entry.
“In this instance, the pair in question avoided a direct flight route back from Dubai to one of the specified airports in an attempt to evade this process. However, this was ultimately unsuccessful and has now resulted in a significant fine of £10,000 each.
This comes Police have reportedly handed out nearly 70,000 fines to those people in the country who were breaching COVID-19 lockdown rules since they came into force, with over 6,000 issued in a single week, new data has now shown.
He continued by saying:
“I hope this incident sends out a clear message to anyone considering breaching travel regulations in this way that we will not tolerate it, and you will be dealt with robustly.
“We are at a crucial point in the pandemic and it’s vital that everyone continues to abide by the restrictions so that we can meet the criteria needed for lockdown to ease. By not doing so, you are not only jeopardising this process but recklessly putting your health and the health of others at risk.”
