£10,000 fine for breaching self-isolation three times

Friday 21 August 2020

A fisherman showed "breathtaking arrogance" as he breached self-isolation requirements on three separate occasions after returning from Southampton - going to a pharmacy, a bank and a newsagents despite being given clear instructions not to do so.

Chad Rowe, 35, failed to comply with his self-isolation requirements on 6 August - the day he returned to the island - 7 August and 14 August. He was fined £2,000, £3,000 and £5,000 respectively.

Rowe returned from a trip to the UK at around 10:00 on 6 August. He asked Aurigny staff members and customs officers if he could pop in to the Queens Road Pharmacy on his way home to get some medication, and was told that would be a breach of his self-quarantine obligations. 

The next day, officers attended his home address and knocked several times on the door, however there was no answer. Employees of the coffee shop beneath his flat were asked if they had seen Rowe leave the property, which they had. He had been to a newsagents to buy a litre of milk before returning home. 

Pictured: Rowe flew back to Guernsey from Southampton Airport on 6 August. 

Rowe was asked if he had received his medication and replied that a relative was picking it up for him. 

However, officers spoke to the Queens Road Pharmacy manager who said that Rowe had turned up at 16:20 the day before -  the same day he had been told he was not allowed to go there - to ask for his medication. 

On 14 August, employees at the coffee shop reported seeing Rowe walking from the direction of Boots to Le Pollet. Rowe was captured on CCTV and confessed that he had been to the bank. He knew he should not have gone, but said he needed money for food. 

Pictured: Rowe was given "clear instructions" that he could not go to the pharmacy at Queens Road. 

His Advocate said his client was remorseful and apologises to everyone affected by his actions. 

He said Rowe's work as a fisherman had been affected by the corona virus and that, financially, asking him to pay a fine in full before his release from custody was "setting him up to fail".

Judge Graeme McKerrell said Rowe had breached orders for different offences in the past.

"You were given clear instructions and you ignored them," he said. "You showed breathtaking arrogance by putting your needs before the health and safety of everyone else in the community."

Pictured: Rowe ended up paying a hefty premium for his litre of milk. 

Judge McKerrell said behaviour like Rowe's risked putting the whole community back to square one. Rowe had been visiting a family member in the UK - Judge McKerrell said his repeated failure to meet his self-isolation obligations upon his return could increase that "period of deprivation" without restriction-less travel even longer.

"You breached your order for what - because you couldn't arrange for someone to get you some milk and a newspaper?"

Rowe was fined £2,000 for the first offence, £3,000 for the second and £5,000 for the final offence. 

He will have to pay £2,000 before being released from custody and pay £500 per week thereafter until the total sum of £10,000 is paid.