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Student who posted Instagram restaurant picture fined £6,600 for breaking coronavirus rules

Close-up image of female hands using smartphone with blank white screen in the coffee shop
A student has been fined £6,600 after she posted a picture of herself in a restaurant while she was supposed to be self-isolating. (Getty)

A student who posted a picture on Instagram of herself eating out has been fined £6,600 for breaching coronavirus self-isolation rules.

Carys Ann Ingram, 22, visited restaurants and went shopping while she was meant to be in quarantine, a court heard.

Ingram, from Salford, flew from Manchester to Jersey in the Channel Islands on 12 October to visit family.

At the time, Manchester was one of Jersey’s “amber zones”, meaning arrivals receive a COVID-19 test on arrival and again five days later.

Arrivals must self-isolate until they receive a second negative test result.

But Ingram was caught shopping in St Helier only three days after arriving in Jersey.

She was also seen at First Tower and then at El Tico restaurant in St Ouen’s Bay.

The latter breach emerged when she posted pictures of herself on social media.

Carys Ann Ingram took posted a picture of herself at El Tico restaurant in Jersey. (Google)
Carys Ann Ingram posted a picture of herself at El Tico restaurant in Jersey. (Google)

Later, it was discovered that someone sitting close to Ingram on her flight from Manchester had tested positive.

She was contacted by tracers and told she must self-isolate and undergo a further test eight days after her arrival.

The authorities made a number of attempts to contact her at her home address but there was no answer.

Ingram was finally reached by phone by contact tracers and was subsequently arrested.

She pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching self-isolation regulations and was fined a total of £6,600.

She was caught breaching self-isolation rules on four occasions – when out shopping, when having a meal at a restaurant, visiting a friend’s house, and not being home when visited by an enforcement team.

She was fined £600 for the first breach and £6,000 for the three that followed at Jersey’s magistrates court.

Caroline Maffia, strategic lead for Contact Tracing, Monitoring and Enforcement in Jersey, said: “It is regrettable that someone should endanger the health of other Islanders after being informed of the need to self-isolate.

“This fine demonstrates that we will pursue prosecution for those found flouting the law.

“Anyone identified as a direct contact of a COVID-positive person must understand the importance of following public health advice and abiding by the law.”

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