A woman from Perth, Western Australia has received a six-month jail sentence for breaching quarantine measures by entering her home state hidden on the back of a truck.
According to the ABC, Asher Vander Sanden had been in regional Victoria when she asked a driver to give her a lift to Perth.
Vander Sanden reportedly hid from authorities at the border with South Australia by hiding in a car that was being transported by the truck.
The 28-year-old was arrested in a Scarborough unit ten days after sneaking into WA.
Vander Sanden’s lawyers said she was initially in Victoria to look after her sister who was unwell and on returning home “self-quarantined” at a unit in Scarborough.
Senior Constable McDowall said an immediate jail term should be imposed on Vander Sanden who he described as “deceitful and dishonest.”
Magistrate Andrew Matthews said Vander Sanden committed “a very serious offence,” that undermined what the state had done to prevent community spread of “this hideous virus.”
Vander Sanden was sentenced to six months, backdated to August 12 when she was arrested.
The sentencing comes as two women “narrowly avoided jail” last week after flying into Perth without an exemption and then escaping hotel quarantine to party with a Perth rapper.
Isata Jalloh, 19, and Banchi Techana, 22, arrived at Perth Airport on August 17 and told authorities they wanted to holiday in WA and visit friends, despite border closures being in place since April.
The Age reports:
“But about 1.30am they left the hotel through the emergency stairwell and ignored orders from security guards to return to their rooms, instead catching a taxi to a unit in Coolbellup, where two men were living.
“The women were apprehended at the unit by police about 8.30am on Tuesday after officers tracked Jalloh’s mobile phone from a call earlier in the morning, during which she laughed and hung up on a police officer asking where she was.”
Magistrate Ben White said the women placed the community at risk and only narrowly avoided serving jail time because they were so young – 19 and 22-years-old.
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