NewsColony
COVID-breachers Diana Lasu and Olivia Muranga in Brisbane court after lying to get out of Victoria
Three women who sparked fears of a second wave of coronavirus in Queensland after they allegedly lied their way across the state’s closed borders will remain on bail.
Diana Lasu, 21 and Olivia Winnie Muranga, 19 are accused of lying on their border declarations about where they had been when they arrived in Brisbane from Melbourne via Sydney on July 21.
Police allege the women hosted an Airbnb party in a Melbourne apartment despite the city being in hard lockdown at the time and grappling with a devastating COVID-19 outbreak.
Upon returning home, both Lasu and Muranga developed symptoms and were tested for COVID-19, but allegedly carried on working, socialising and dining out at cocktail bars while waiting for their test results.
Haja Umu Timbo, 21, is accused of travelling with both women but never tested positive to COVID-19.
All three women appeared in Brisbane Magistrate’s Court on Monday charged with one count of fraud and deception each.
Olivia Winnie Muranga, 19 (pictured) is accused of lying on her border declarations about where she had been when they arrived in Brisbane from Melbourne via Sydney on July 21
Haja Umu Timbo, 21, is accused of travelling with both women but never tested positive to COVID-19
Diana Lasu (centre) was granted a bail extension on Monday when she appeared in court
Each of the women arrived at the Roma Street courthouse separately on Monday morning.
Lasu and Muranga sat side by side when they arrived in the court room with their lawyers, while Timbo sat on the opposite end of the room alongside her father.
Lawyers for Lasu and Muranga separately asked the magistrate to adjourn the matters until October 28.
He granted the women an extension to their current bail conditions and set the new court date.
Meanwhile Timbo’s lawyer asked for her matter to be adjourned until October 21, and made a point to the judge that the women had been charged separately.
‘It is somewhat connected but they are not charged together, they do not have to appear together,’ she said to the court.
Timbo was also granted bail and does not have to appear alongside her lawyer when the matter returns to court on October 21.
After leaving the courtroom, Muranga and Lasu joined their waiting family members and spoke quietly among themselves while waiting to sign their new bail documents.
The defiant mother of Diana Lasu (left) previously sensationally claimed her daughter never travelled to Melbourne and instead pointed the blame at Muranga (right)
Timbo’s lawyer asked for her matter to be adjourned until October 21, and made a point to the judge that the women had been charged separately
Timbo, meanwhile, walked past the group wordlessly to sit with her lawyer and father.
The 21-year-old was the first to speak publicly after being identified as the third woman involved in the alleged COVID-19 health breach.
She denied media reports surrounding the incident but wouldn’t clarify what actually happened.
‘No, but half of the things that are in the media aren’t true, so what can you do,’ she previously told the Courier Mail.
‘I want everything to be confidential. I don’t want to be in the media or my friends to be in the media.’
The women have previously claimed they became the target of vicious trolling when the public learned of their alleged border breaches.
Lasu revealed she received messages which read: ‘Black lives matter, but not yours’ in the days to follow.
‘You dumb, ugly sl*t. Way to f*** it up for Queensland. Everyone hates you, do everyone a favour and drink some bleach,’ another reads.
‘Hope you get deported to where you came from.’
Muranga (pictured) had allegedly gone to work for two days at Parklands Christian College in Park Ridge, before calling in sick
Lawyers for Lasu and Muranga separately asked the magistrate to adjourn the matters until October 28
Some devolve into racist name-calling and attacks on her physical appearance including references to potential cosmetic surgery she may have received.
‘Your lips are bigger than your ego, you selfish b*tch… Looks like your botox injection penetrated into your tiny brain.’
While Queensland avoided a widespread outbreak, the consequences of the women’s actions could have been catastrophic.
Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young called the pair ‘reckless’ and said she was ‘very disappointed’ that they’d allegedly made the decision to lie and jeopardise the safety of all Queenslanders.
‘They went to extraordinary lengths to be deceitful and deceptive and quite frankly criminal in their behaviour and that is what has put the community at risk,’ Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said at the time.
Victoria was in the grips of its second wave – with more than 700 cases identified each day at the peak – while the Sunshine State had almost entirely eradicated the virus at the time.
Diana Lasu, 21, (pictured) is one of the young women who allegedly lied on border declarations after touching down in Brisbane on July 21 from a trip from Melbourne via Sydney
Olivia Winnie Muranga (left), 19 and Haja Timbo (right), 21, allegedly and lied on their border declarations about where they had been when they arrived in Brisbane from Melbourne via Sydney on July 21
But when word spread that the duo had tested positive for the virus, officials feared a second outbreak was inevitable.
Queensland has since experienced small coronavirus clusters, but managed to avoid widespread infections like in Victoria or New South Wales.
The trio have been charged with one count each of providing false or misleading documents and fraud.
Lasu’s mother earlier denied her daughter did anything wrong, instead pointing the blame at Muranga.
‘She didn’t go to Melbourne, she went to Sydney,’ she told media at the time.
‘I don’t have any apologies for anyone – believe me.’
The mother, who was required to undergo hotel quarantine as a close contact, said her daughter’s friend had been in Melbourne.
‘If you know, yourself, you have the virus – why didn’t you directly go to the doctor?’ she said, referring to Muranga.
Lasu and Muranga were under police guard in Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital after they tested positive, partly for their own protection.
Public outrage only intensified when footage emerged showing Muranga casually ordering a drink at the Cowch Dessert Cocktail Bar on Brisbane’s Southbank with a friend just hours after she was tested for the virus.
The venue was one of 11 visited by the women while infectious.
Before that, Muranga had allegedly gone to work for two days at Parklands Christian College in Park Ridge, south of the city before calling in sick.
She went to the doctor on Saturday and was told to get tested immediately, but she allegedly waited until Monday to do so.
Muranga’s brother admitted her alleged actions were a ‘mistake’, but claimed she had been unfairly targeted because of her race.
He said his sister waited several days in between experiencing symptoms and getting sick.
‘Some days she couldn’t even breathe out of her airways and s**t,’ he told the program via telephone.
‘It’s a f***ing mistake,’ he said. ‘I reckon if someone else did this that wasn’t of colour, you’ll be protecting them – you wouldn’t be doing all of this s**t.’
The women could be fined $13,345 or sent to jail for a maximum of five years.
Police said the trio are now cooperating with officers and Queensland Health officials.
Lasu received more than 20 messages in 24 hours after she was named as an accused quarantine dodger
Source: Daily Mail Australia | News Colony
The post COVID-breachers Diana Lasu and Olivia Muranga in Brisbane court after lying to get out of Victoria appeared first on NewsColony.
source https://newscolony.com/covid-breachers-diana-lasu-and-olivia-muranga-in-brisbane-court-after-lying-to-get-out-of-victoria/
Comments
Post a Comment