COVID bikie moved to hospital from quarantine

Infamous former Queensland bikie Shane Bowden has been moved from Gold Coast hotel quarantine to hospital for “treatment of an existing injury”, according to police.

Queensland detectives are working with their Victorian counterparts to investigate whether the 48-year-old committed fraud upon his return to Queensland, an offence that carries up to five years’ jail.

Mr Bowden was seized by police at Brisbane Airport after coming in on Jetstar flight JQ560, which took off from Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport and landed in Brisbane at 9.19am on Monday.

In a statement on Tuesday, Queensland police said Mr Bowden allegedly provided false information on his Queensland border declaration and breached quarantine in Victoria.

Mr Bowden had previously tested positive for COVID-19 in Victoria and initial fears were he could have infected the other 84 passengers on the Jetstar flight.

However, late on Tuesday, a Queensland Health spokesperson said a public health alert would not be issued for the flight as “new advice” indicated he was not infectious while travelling.

Brisbane Times understands Mr Bowden may have initially tested positive in Victoria in early August. After being tested on entry to the Queensland hotel quarantine scheme, he was no longer considered an active case.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton had said there were “no infectious individuals who caught a flight to Queensland” that he was aware of.

Dr Sutton said cases in Victoria were cleared of COVID-19 after at least three days without symptoms and 10 days since their symptoms began, not just necessarily a negative test.

Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said Mr Bowden’s admission to hospital on Tuesday, reportedly for a gunshot wound suffered in Melbourne earlier in the year, would hamper the investigation into his travels.

“That’s going to take a little while to do because the person in question is currently receiving treatment in hospital, so we will have to wait for that to run its course, and we need to work with our Victorian counterparts to get some further information,” he told ABC Radio Brisbane on Wednesday.

Queenslanders are entitled to return to Queensland, that will always be the case, but our system has in place requirements that if you are coming out of hotspots, unless you have a specific exemption from Dr Young, you have to go into quarantine.”

Shane Scott Bowden, a former member of the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang.Credit:Facebook

Mr Bowden is known for his role in the infamous “Ballroom Blitz” brawl at the Gold Coast’s Royal Pines Resort in March 2016.

Three people were shot, two were stabbed and more than $40,000 worth of damage was caused to the resort’s Grand Ballroom after members of the Finks and Hells Angels motorcycle gangs clashed at a kickboxing tournament.

Mr Gollschewski said 63 domestic flights came into Queensland on Tuesday, with 3106 passengers processed at the border while two were refused entry.

At the road checkpoints, 3930 vehicles were checked, 107 were turned around and 313 people ordered into hotel quarantine.

Since March 27, almost 660,000 vehicles have been checked at the road border checkpoints and 290,000 domestic passengers have been processed at the state’s airports.

In total, Queensland police have issued 2275 COVID-related fines – including 83 related to border breaches – while 24 people have been arrested and issued with notices to appear in court.

Queensland recorded two new coronavirus cases on Wednesday: another student at Staines Memorial College in Redbank Plains, the third case at the school, and a healthcare worker in her 30s.


Australia - BNN.

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