The father and son from Sydney’s eastern suburbs who sent the region into lockdown by bringing COVID to Byron, have pleaded guilty to some of the charges against them.
Zoran Radovanovic, 52, and his 19-year-old son, Kristian Radovanovic, elected not to appear in person when their cases came before Lismore local court yesterday (Monday).
However, lawyers for the pair entered a series of guilty pleas on their behalf.
Radovanovic senior pleaded guilty to four charges of failing to comply with electronic registration codes (QR codes).
He has not yet entered a plea in relation to three charges of failing to comply with a COVID direction.
Kristian Radovanovic entered guilty please to all four charges against him, including two charges of failing to comply with electronic registration (QR codes), one charge of failing to comply with a COVID direction, and one charge of failing to wear a face mask on public transport or in a taxi.
Police allege that Radovanovic senior drove to the North Coast in late July with his two teenage children to look at real estate and failed to use QR codes to check into venues.
He became ill while in the region and required hospitalisation, where he tested positive to COVID-19, as did his children.
The Byron, Richmond Valley, Lismore, and Ballina local government areas were plunged into a snap seven-day lockdown after news of the infection emerged.
On August 14, the lockdown was extended and introduced for seven days for the rest of regional New South Wales, which then blew out to September 10 for large parts of the state.
Father and son remain on bail, with the father’s case to be mentioned again at Lismore on November 15 and the son’s matter to be mentioned in Waverley Local Court on November 8.
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