Heartbroken Robbie O'Davis says he is not a criminal and is considering taking legal action to fight a $5000 fine for a COVID breach on compassionate grounds after visiting his dying mother in hospital while under stay-at-home orders.
The former Newcastle Knights fullback was in self-isolation in late August after being declared a close contact when he left home to take his fiance for an urgent MRI scan and to see his ailing mother Marg in Lake Macquarie hospital.
It was while he was at his mother's side for the last time before she passed away that he received a text from the police asking why he wasn't at home.
"It's heartless and un-Australian what they have done," O'Davis told the Newcastle Herald.
"Mum had been fine but had some blood tests done during a check-up and was called into hospital on August 25 for more tests when we were told she had sepsis and was going downhill fast.
"The family spoke to her that night on the phone and all the grandkids taped some songs and poems for me to take in the next day. She died the following morning."
The day after her death, the police attended O'Davis' Boolaroo home and issued him with the fine.
"Who wouldn't go and see their dying mum for the last time if they were in my shoes," he said. "Like I said, this is the most heartless thing I've ever heard of. The police - they didn't give a shit."
O'Davis revealed he has undergone three COVID tests, including one on the day he visited the hospital, and all have been negative.
"I was told I was a close contact because I delivered concrete to the site at Costco where there was a cluster but I didn't go inside the premises and never even saw any of their workers because I was in the truck in the carpark," O'Davis said. "The whole thing is ridiculous."
O'Davis is now considering his options after pleas to the State Revenue Office for leniency were rejected.
