All charges have been dropped against three New South Wales residents who flew to Coober Pedy in a private plane despite COVID-19 border restrictions, and were later found doing karaoke.
Key points:
- The three NSW residents flew into Coober Pedy in June, before flying over Uluru
- One of the group claimed they were confused about state border rules
- The prosecution has dropped all charges against them
Amelia Johnson, 39, Elizabeth Nichols, 21, and Thomas St Hill, 27, appeared via video link in the Port Augusta Magistrates Court today.
They were arrested in Coober Pedy in June and were each charged with one count of failing to comply with health directions that barred NSW residents from entering South Australia.
The prosecutor told the court the matter had been resolved by dealing with the trio “in a different manner”, but did not elaborate further.
A spokesperson for SA Police later said the matter had been resolved with a police caution.
“Due to the circumstances surrounding the offending it was determined that the matters could be resolved with Adult Cautions,” the spokesperson said.
“As a result the matters were withdrawn from court and dealt with in this manner.”
The three accused had documented their trip to SA on social media.
After the trio was arrested, SA Police said they had flown from Griffith to Coober Pedy in a private plane on Thursday, June 24 — a day after South Australia closed its borders to most of NSW amid the eastern state’s coronavirus outbreak.
After landing in Coober Pedy, they then flew over Uluru and attempted to disembark in the Northern Territory but were refused entry by officials, who notified SA Police.
They then returned to Coober Pedy, where they were found by police in the early hours of June 25 at a karaoke night.
Testing of the group initially showed a positive result for COVID-19, but subsequent tests revealed it was a false positive.
During a stopover in Broken Hill on their way back home, Mr St Hill claimed they were confused about the border rules.
“At the end of the day everyone is safe and we haven’t negatively impacted anyone,” he said.
“Local communities out there are vulnerable and we’re out of there now and it is what it is.
“Had we known we were doing the wrong thing, we would have been straight out of there.”
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