Heartbroken parents risked a £ 20,000 fine traveling from Dubai to Derby and escaping a quarantine hotel to say goodbye to their son.
Mourners Carol and Trevor Smith broke quarantine laws designed to stop the spread of Covid-19 and skipped most of the quarantine period to put their son Stacey Paul Smith to rest.
The couple then refused to face the Derbyshire police and went into hiding.
READ MORE: Eight hours of waiting at Derby A&E
They had applied for a quarantine exemption on compassionate grounds after returning from Dubai after their son died.
However, after receiving no response to their inquiries, they checked into the hotel themselves before leaving a good four days later.
“I want to bury my son first and then I’ll go to the police,” Carol told The Mirror at the end of June while on the run.
“I won’t pay the fine. I had to get my son from the morgue.
Carol and Trevor, who have their roots in Derby, have been living in Dubai for 19 years when they received news all parents fear.
On June 9, they found out that their 41-year-old son, Stacey, had died, prompting them to return to the UK.
Carol said, “We don’t know what killed him. We were told it was a blood clot. My son was addicted to alcohol. Often he was afraid. We thought it was.
“We did everything we could to help him, including several times in rehab.”
Carol and Trevor Smith (pictured right) broke quarantine laws to return to Derby to say goodbye to their son Stacey Paul Smith (pictured left).
(Image: Carol Smith)
After booking and performing PCR tests, the couple flew to Heathrow on June 12 and checked into the Holiday Inn hotel near the airport.
Her request for compassionate exemption from the mandatory quarantine period went unanswered and her requests were denied at the airport, Carol said.
After two days of further inquiries, the couple were told they could leave the hotel for eight hours to visit Stacey at the Royal Derby Hospital morgue.
“I marched to the car my other son was waiting in after they let us out for eight hours,” said Carol.
“It’s ridiculous. Why take us to a hospital morgue when we’re dangerous? I have to keep my son in a body bag under a sheet on the sixth day after he dies.”
Later that day, Carol and Trevor returned to the hotel just to pick up some of their bags before leaving for good the next day.
“I decided to take my hand luggage and go out,” she said.
Carol and Trevor Smith broke quarantine laws to return to Derby to say goodbye to their son Stacey Paul Smith (pictured)
(Image: Carol Smith)
“I left all my other things there. We went into hiding. The police have seen my mother four times since then.
“Once at midnight. They woke an 83-year-old woman and ransacked her home. My other son, who is 39 years old, called the police and said he would file a complaint.
“The police say they want to see us. She’s going to fine us with two fines of £ 10,000. I know my rights. “
The grieving Carol had grown angrier that she could not organize her son’s funeral while footballers were traveling Europe for Euro 2020 without being quarantined.
She is also furious at reports that the government is planning to move people from Amber List countries that have economic benefits to skip most of the isolation to the UK.
Carol and Trevor – who both tested negative for coronavirus several times during their quarantine period – said goodbye to Stacey for good on Thursday, a week after they left hotel quarantine.
A Derbyshire Police spokesman said: “The force has been working with the Managed Quarantine Service after it was reported that two passengers believed to be from the Derbyshire area passed quarantine requirements upon arrival from a country of the allegedly had not completely fulfilled the red list.
“The police, like all police forces across the country, work with the MQS to administer those believed to have failed to comply with applicable quarantine laws.
“The address the couple gave in Derby has been checked but it has not been found.
“The MQS manages cases and more detailed information about a particular incident should be sent to the Department of Health and Social Affairs.”
The health department was asked for an opinion.
Holiday Inn declined to comment.
The family set up a Go Fund Me to pay a bank in memory of Stacey. Click here to view it.
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