A man who caused a snap three-day lockdown in Southern Tasmania after escaping hotel quarantine appeared nervous, was visibly shaking and talking fast when he lied to biosecurity officers on his arrival at Hobart International Airport, a court has heard.
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Timothy Andrew Gunn, 31, pleaded guilty in the Hobart Magistrates Court on Monday to multiple breaches of emergency management orders, and breaching apprehended family violence orders from NSW.
Gunn had finished serving a four-month jail sentence in NSW for drug possession and contravening family violence orders when he applied at the end of September to travel to Tasmania to be with his partner, who lived in Bridgewater.
But a no-contact apprehended family violence order had been issued in Albury Local Court on April 23 against Gunn regarding his partner, which remained in place when he travelled to Tasmania.
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He was twice rejected for a G2G Pass, the first time on September 29 due to his attempt to travel from NSW as a high risk area, and the second on October 1 when he claimed he was a returning Tasmanian, but with insufficient information. The information from Gunn was considered "misleading".
Gunn completed a Tas e-travel pass on October 10 that also had "a number of bits of misleading information", including that he was travelling from Queensland. The next day, he caught a train from Wodonga to Melbourne, then a flight to Hobart where he arrived at 8.40pm.
A biosecurity officer told police that Gunn "appeared nervous, visibly shaking, talking fast, appeared to be under influence of drugs and or alcohol", the court heard.
Gunn claimed he had travelled from Queensland to Melbourne and did not leave the airport, but could not provide evidence of his travel from Queensland. He "would not make eye contact" and "stumbled" when answering questions.
Gunn conceded he had been in Albury, and at the time the entirety of NSW was considered high risk for travel to Tasmania. He claimed he did not know Albury was considered high risk in Tasmania.
He told officers there were ice smoking pipes in his luggage, and one was found in his backpack and another in his luggage.
When told he would need to complete 14 days of quarantine at the Travelodge Hotel in Hobart, Gunn said he was "p***ed off" about it, and told the bus driver that he was moving to live with his girlfriend in Bridgewater.
He called out to her, "hey babe" at the airport - the first breach of the family violence order.
Escape and arrest
Gunn was taken to a room at the Travelodge, but left "some time after 9.30pm" - soon after his arrival.
He had arranged to have his partner pick him up, and he left the hotel via an emergency stairwell. His absence wasn't noted until the next day, and his items were still in the room.
Police found him that afternoon at a house on Merino Place, Bridgewater, where he was staying in a garage out the back of the property.
He provided a COVID test that was inconclusive, and then a positive test the next day, and was transferred to the Fountainside case management facility.
On October 12, Gunn was called by Public Health to discuss his movements, but "did not really want to answer" questions, saying he was "not in the mood for this s***".
The next day, he was called again and declined to provide the Bridgewater address and said he had only been with his partner. There were four other people at the property when he was arrested.
Police then discovered he had been at the Woolworths in Bridgewater for about 20 minutes from 3.30pm on the day of his escape, prompting the lockdown and intensive contact tracing measures.
While in Fountainside, he attempted to contact his partner 506 times between October 13 and 26, and then once more from Risdon Prison - constituting further breaches of the family violence order.
Most of the conversations were short, but some lasted half an hour.
The initial family violence order was issued due to Gunn hitting and spitting at his partner.
Gunn was 'confused'
Defence counsel Pip Monk told the court Gunn had wanted to leave NSW because he "had nothing" there, having fallen out with various family members.
He had found Tasmania's entry requirements to be "quite confusing", and he had been drinking alcohol on the day of his arrival which would not have helped, Ms Monk said.
He was placed in maximum security at Risdon due to threats made to his safety by other inmates, which added to his "stress". He was then moved to medium security after his defence raised concerns.
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In a statement read to the court, Gunn expressed his remorse.
"I fully understand what I have done is wrong ... it must have impacted the lives of other people and put panic in the community," he said.
"I can understand the anger ... directed towards me from Tasmanians who had been doing well as far as COVID was concerned."
His actions prompted a snap three-day lockdown in Tasmania's South.
Ms Monk described his arrival in Tasmania and his escape from the Travelodge Hotel as lacking in sophistication.
"This wasn't a cloak and dagger exit. He walked out," she said.
Ms Monk suggested a suspended sentence, to be backdated to October 26 when he entered custody after finishing his quarantine in Fountainside.
Police prosecutor Mark Miller said Gunn's action had put many people at risk.
"He put his partner at risk, he put the residents of the household at risk, he put visitors to the household at risk, he put members of the public at risk," he said.
"It is indeed fortunate for this state and Mr Gunn that he did not transmit the disease."
Gunn will be sentenced in Hobart on December 21. He was remanded in custody.
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