Perth, Australia: In what is said to be the harshest penalty served in enforcing coronavirus restrictions since the onset of the pandemic, a woman from Western Australia has been served with a six month and one day sentence for breaching quarantine rules.
Asher Faye Vander Sanden, 28, had been visiting her unwell sister in Victoria for a month around the time when Victoria started reporting its second wave of infections. She was granted an exemption to return to Perth under the condition that she complete a mandatory 14 days hotel quarantine at her own expense.
However, Ms. Sanden, instead of flying into Perth snuck into Western Australia after hiding in the back of a truck. After crossing into Western Australia, she asked her partner to pick her up. She was arrested from a unit on August 11 by WA Police, after failing to arrive at Perth Airport.
After her arrest, she spent 14 days in quarantine in custody. Perth Magistrates Court on Tuesday sentenced her for six months and one day for her “deceitful and dishonest” conduct.
Ms. Van Der Sanden’s sentence was backdated to August 12, the day of her arrest, and she will be eligible for parole after serving three months of her sentence.
The sentence is believed to be the harshest amongst Western Australia’s five sentences so far.
