An Adelaide nightclub attended by a teenager who claimed he did not see his positive COVID-19 result until the following morning says it lost an estimated $60,000 because it was forced to close its doors after the incident.
Ralph James Mackenzie MacIntosh, now aged 20, today pleaded guilty in the Adelaide Magistrates Court to failing to comply with South Australia's emergency management rules, but was spared a conviction and fined $600.
MacIntosh's lawyer, Stephen Ey, told the court on Monday that his client only noticed confirmation of his positive COVID-19 test the morning after he attended Loverboy nightclub — the same morning he went to a Walkerville café.
Mr Ey said Mr MacIntosh, who was 19 at the time of the incident in December, had not checked his phone — which contained notification of the positive COVID-19 result — the previous night, when he was at the nightclub.
"He accepts that, when he learnt on that morning that he was positive, he should have isolated and he didn't," Mr Ey told the court.
In a statement issued on Facebook on Monday night, Loverboy's owners said that MacIntosh's "actions cost us as a business $60,000".
"When a trail of destruction is left behind by someone and it becomes our job to pick up the pieces, where's the justice?"
Mr Ey told the court that Mr MacIntosh had a PCR test at the Royal Adelaide Hospital on December 17, before he attended the club.
In its statement, the nightclub said that Mr MacIntosh — whom it referred to as 'R' — had "received a message from SA Health at 10:18pm alerting him to the fact he was positive" but that he allegedly "didn't see that message until the following morning".
"Our main question is, 'Shouldn't he have been isolating while awaiting results regardless?'" the club owners stated.
"Unfortunately, we haven't had as much as an apology uttered in our direction from 'R' or anyone representing him.
"Sadly, we've learned today there's a big difference between legality and morality."
The club also released the text of a letter it said had been sent to Mr MacIntosh prior to his court appearance, seeking compensation for the lost income.
In the letter, the owners issued a "desperate plea" to Mr MacIntosh and his family, asking that they pay "a substantial contribution" because of the loss in revenue during a time when the club had returned to "maximum capacity".
"Unfortunately, the events of December 17 brought all of that to an abrupt end," the letter stated.
"At least 15 of our patrons and 4 of our staff members caught COVID. We were confronted with many distraught and upset complaints from them, their families and close contacts as well as a lot of damaging media [coverage]."
Magistrate Edward Stratton-Smith said during sentencing that Mr MacIntosh "ought to have been on the alert" for his PCR result, but that he appreciated that the matter "has been a salutary and sobering experience for you".
Mr MacIntosh has been fined $600 without a conviction and will have to pay victims of crime levies and court costs.
