Former England star and BBC Pundit, Eni Aluko was reprimanded for leaving her hotel accommodation and taking public transport on Friday despite her Covid-19 test results being delayed as she was spotted after images surfaced on social media and was tracked down by Barbadian officials before being given a warning in court.
The BBC pundit was charged with disobeying the order of the Chief Medical Officer and was left in tears as she was escorted out of court although, Aluko’s results eventually came back negative for Covid-19 at the time she left the Little Arches Hotel in Enterprise, Christ Church, that was undetermined and her actions were considered a risk to the general population.
The former Arsenal and Chelsea striker left her hotel and rode the ZR – a private taxi-bus system that operates in Barbados. Local newspaper Nation News report that she initially pleaded not guilty before changing her plea.
Magistrate Douglas Frederick, who oversaw Aluko’s hearing, warned the former England international that her venture out of the hotel placed others at risk.
Aluko said in her defence that she was confused by the rules on movement as she waited for her results, and she was not prevented from leaving by the hotel.
Barbados has recorded 138 Covid-19 cases and of those so far there have 108 recoveries and seven deaths.
When questioned, the former England player accepted that she was aware that as a visitor to Barbados, she knew she was supposed to stay indoors until the Covid-19 test results came back.
“I came here on the basis that there were more relaxed rules,’ Aluko was reported to have said in court by Barbadian publication Nation News. I love Barbados. I came here in 2015. I came here for a vacation. I would never, ever try to break any rules.”
“I understand that I should have waited on the test. I didn’t think I had to, I thought I had to wait a maximum of time. Honestly, your worship if they had stopped me from leaving. I would have complied.”
With the hearing concluded, Aluko stood in tears on the steps of the court and said that while she was not fined or imprisoned for her actions, she was planning to pay a fine regardless as an acceptance of her wrongdoing.
The offer made by Aluko was said to have been seen as a sign of contrition by Magistrate Frederick.
