4 travellers fined £10,000 each for lying about flying from ‘red list’ country

Y O

3 years ago

Four passengers have been fined £10,000 each for failing to declare they had travelled to the UK from a “red list” country, police have said.

The group flew into Birmingham Airport on Monday but did not say they had been to one of the government’s 33 “red list” countries within the past 10 days, according to West Midlands Police.

Despite attempting to “hide their routes”, officers found they had not given the correct information on their passenger locator forms and they were fined and stopped from leaving the airport, the force added.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd said in a statement: “By midday yesterday (Monday), on the first day of implementation, we have received six passengers who had declared travelling from a red list country, who were taken to the quarantine hotel.

“We also had four passengers who were identified as having travelled from a red list country, that hadn’t declared it.

“So there are some people who have who have attempted to hide their routes but that’s not worked out.

“They were identified and received £10,000 fines as a result.”

Under the latest coronavirus travel restrictions, anyone flying into the UK from a “red list” country must pay £1,750 to stay in a government-sanctioned quarantine hotel for 10 days.

If they fail to do so they face fines of between £5,000 and £10,000, while lying on a locator form carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.