Grieving parents fled hotel quarantine and risked a hefty fine to bury their son.
Carol Smith and her husband Trevor spent a week in hiding having skipped most of the legally required hotel quarantine period.
The pair refused to hand themselves into police until they'd laid their son Stacey Paul Smith to rest - despite potentially facing a £20,000 fine for breaching laws designed to stop the spread of deadly coronavirus strains.
They had applied for an exemption from quarantine on compassionate grounds after returning from Dubai following their son's death.
After receiving no reply to their requests they checked themselves in before leaving for good four days later.
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"I want to bury my son first and then I will go to the police," Carol told The Mirror while on the run at the end of June.
"I will not pay the fine. I needed to get my son out of that morgue. Any mother would have done what we have done."
Carol and Trevor had been living in Dubai for 19 years when they received news every parent dreads.
On June 9 their 41-year-old son Stacey had died, prompting them to rush back 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. Many times he had a scare. We thought it was that.
"We had done everything we could to help him, including rehab numerous times."
After booking and taking PCR tests, the couple flew into Heathrow on June 12 and checked into the Holiday Inn Hotel close to the airport.
Their request for compassionate exemption from the mandatory quarantine period had gone unanswered and their inquiries at the airport rejected, Carol said.
After two days of further requests, the couple were told they could leave the hotel for eight hours to visit Stacey in the morgue at Derby Hospital.
"I marched down to the car where my other son was waiting after they released us for eight hours," Carol said.
"It's ridiculous. Why let us out to a morgue in a hospital if we're dangerous? I got to hold my son on the sixth day after his death in a body bag under a sheet."
Later that day Carol and Trevor returned to the hotel only to pick up some of their bags before leaving for good the following day.
"I decided to take my hand luggage and walk out," she said.
"I left all my other stuff there. We went into hiding. The police have since been to my mother's house four times.
"Once at midnight. They woke an 83-year-old up and searched her house. My other son who is 39 called the police and said he would make a complaint.
"The police say they want to see us. They want to issue us with two £10,000 fines. I know my rights."
Grieving Carol had become increasingly enraged that she was unable to organise her son's funeral as footballers travel across Europe for Euro 2020 without having to quarantine.
She's also been infuriated by reports that the government is planning on letting people who'll bring economic benefits with them to the UK from amber list countries skip the bulk of isolation.
Carol and Trevor - who both tested negative for coronavirus numerous times during their quarantine period - were able to say their finally goodbyes to Stacey on Thursday, a week after they left hotel quarantine.
A spokesperson for Derbyshire Police said: “The force has been working with Managed Quarantine Service following a report that two passengers believed to be from the Derbyshire area had allegedly not fully complied with quarantine requirements after arriving from a red list country.
“The force works with the MQS, as all police forces do across the country, to manage those people who are believed to have not followed the current legislation around quarantining.
“The address the couple gave in Derby was checked but they were not located.
“The MQS manages cases and further detailed information about a particular incident should be sent to the Department for Health and Social Care.”
The Department of Health has been contacted for comment.
Holiday Inn declined to comment.
The family have set up a Go Fund Me to pay for a bench in Stacey's memory. Click here to view it.
