Geraldton teen close contact in court for leaving COVID isolation to attend family funeral in Perth

A Geraldton teenager identified as a COVID close contact has been placed on a good behaviour bond after breaching his self-isolation directions to attend a funeral. Geraldton Magistrates Court was on Friday told the 15-year-old had been advised by police to self-isolate for seven days after being identified as a close contact earlier last week. The youth and his family returned negative rapid antigen tests and attended a relative’s funeral in Perth, in breach of the police directions given to the teen. Officers became aware of the breach when they attended his Waggrakine home on Thursday and were told the teen was not at the property. The teen was taken into custody at 10pm, and remained in detention until his court appearance about 2.30pm the following day. He also pleaded guilty to stealing charges after he and three co-accused were linked to incidents involving the removal of jerry cans containing 40 litres of diesel and a can of spray paint from a Toyota ute about 3am on Tuesday. The trio were also said to have rummaged through an unlocked car parked at the Geraldton Motor Inn, removing a bag of groceries and a credit card from the vehicle. Lawyer Georgia Keysers said all items were discarded within metres of the vehicles after the youths made the “wise” decision to stop their offending. She said the teen admitted his attendance at the funeral was in breach of the emergency COVID orders, but told the court the memorial was an “important” family event. Magistrate Angus Hockton recognised it was an emotional time for the teen’s family, but said he had put the health of the community at risk by not complying with orders to self-isolate. He said there would be “no punishment” issued for the stealing charges, but placed the teen on a $300 good behaviour bond for four months for his breach of COVID directions.