Man fined £7,000 for self-isolation breaches

Monday 28 September 2020

A hospitality worker breached his self-isolation four times, despite being warned of what he could and could not do within his multi-occupancy house.

Daniel Joao Abreu Santos, 26, was fined a total of £7,000 for four breaches which were committed across four days early last month.

The defendant arrived back in Guernsey on 28 July and was notified of his requirements to serve 14 days of self-isolation.

Santos first came to the police's attention shortly after, when the Manager of the Christie's Group contacted them with concerns over Santos not adhering to his mandatory quarantine. 

Officers attended the defendant's multi-occupancy address to carry out a welfare check and to remind Santos of his isolation requirements. However, he went on to breach these requirements several times.

Pictured: Santos was travelling back to Guernsey from Southampton Airport. 

CCTV footage obtained subsequently showed that the first breach took place at around 16:15 on 3 August, when he went upstairs to speak to a fellow occupant who then followed him downstairs, spending around 90 seconds in his company. 

The second breach came later that evening, at around 21:30, when the defendant went upstairs again and spent one-hour-and-a-half in the company of two other male housemates. 

The third offence came the following day, although the time was not specified in court. Santos had left a note on a side table by the front door. When someone came around, apparently to collect the note, Santos decided to pick it up and hand it to them himself, standing "in close proximity" while the two spoke. 

Finally, Santos was captured flagging down a motorbike shortly before 05:30 on 6 August. The prosecution said there appeared to be "an exchange of something" between the pair, who were again stood in close proximity. 

Pictured: Santos was given instructions to self-isolate for 14 days by Aurigny staff when he arrived back in the island on 28 July. 

On 18 August, Santos was arrested and cautioned after police saw the CCTV footage. The defendant said he had misunderstood his obligations, and thought the requirements were similar to those in Madeira. 

He said he had not spoken to anybody, and when presented with evidence of him doing so, gave "various explanations and justifications".

His Advocate David Domaille said his client had misunderstood and believed he could move freely within the multi-occupancy house. 

However, Judge Graeme McKerrell paid short shrift to that explanation, saying that his requirements had been explained to him twice. He also noted that the defendant was not being charged with any breaches that had caused his employer to report him in the first place. 

Pictured: Santos was arrested on 18 August and initially denied coming into contact with people before he was shown the CCTV. 

Judge McKerrell said: "No one denies that isolation is hard, it is and it can in some way be made even harder by living in a multi-occupancy building being able to hear other people coming and going with freedom. But it is that freedom that you put at risk by your selfish actions."

Santos was charged £1,500 for the first offence, £1,500 for the second, £2,000 for the third and £2,000 for the fourth. 

Santos will not be released from custody until £2,000 has been paid and he will then have to pay £1,000 every month thereafter until the full amount is settled.