Riss Gal (25) was charged with intentionally failing to comply with an order under the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 by failing to implement and apply any accommodation service bubble arrangement, and take reasonable steps to mitigate the risk of spread of Covid on August 25.
However, Judge Russell Walker said Gal’s explanation of what occurred, and the circumstances in which the incident occurred, "paint quite a different picture ... [from] how it may have appeared to police and the wider public at first blush".
Gal, a dual citizen of the United States and Israel, was employed as a manager of the Queenstown backpackers from December 2020 until last October.
When New Zealand went into the Alert Level 4 lockdown on August 17, Gal sought guidance from her employer, Tourism Industry Aotearoa and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment as to the rules in relation to backpackers.
The advice was all 60 guests were considered to be in one bubble and there was no requirement to enforce social distancing between them. However, visitors and friends were not permitted access to the property.
Judge Walker said Gal put up a QR code and sign at the main entry, made sanitising dispensers and masks available and held meetings with guests to ensure they knew the rules, and any breaches would result in their removal from the backpackers.
Guests decided to hold a fancy-dress trivia night on August 25 — while Gal did not organise it, she was made aware of it and did not see any issue, based on the guidance she had been given.
However, police arrived during the event and expressed concern, so Gal shut the gathering down.
Judge Walker said, on reflection, Gal believed she was following the rules but should have taken advice from the police to ensure policies adopted by hostel management were appropriate.
Police had considered her for diversion, but that position was "not sanctioned further up the chain".
Gal had no prior convictions, had applied for a work visa in Australia and intended to continue travelling, and might rejoin the Israeli army, he said.
Finding Gal’s risk of reoffending low, Judge Walker concluded the consequences of a conviction were out of proportion to the gravity of the offence and granted the discharge, conditional on a $300 payment to a charity being made.
-- COURT REPORTER
