A BRIT couple have been fined for breaching Covid rules after they sneaked a woman back into their hotel in Barbados.
Andrew Luker and Julia Knightley were caught out after security guards spotted the woman climbing over the hotel’s wall and entering after midnight.
Police were called two hours later Treasure Beach, St James, when a security guard found Jamaican Mikaela Jacas with the couple on their patio.
Crane engineer Luker, from Rochdale, and Knightley, a beautician and qualified nurse from Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, both pleaded guilty.
The pair blamed “ignorance” for inviting the woman to their room while still awaiting the results of a test for coronavirus.
They were each fined £2,200 and freed on £7,000 bail but warned they would be jailed for nine months if they didn’t pay within seven days.
The couple arrived on the island on December 28 and are scheduled to leave on January 9.
It comes after Love Island star Zara Holland, 25, was slapped with a £4,500 fine after trying to flee Barbados with partner Elliott Love after he tested positive for coronavirus.
Ms Knightley, 41, a single mother-of-four made national news headlines several years ago when she used provocative images of herself in revealing underwear to promote her cosmetic clinic.
On Wednesday her and Luker appeared before the same magistrate who spared Zara Holland jail for a similar breach of Covid regulations.
Ms Knightley said ignorance of the law was no excuse for their actions.
She admitting to knowing they could not leave the hotel while awaiting test results – but claimed she didn’t know they couldn’t invite guests to their room.
Mr Luker said he regretted what had happened, adding: “Beyond that there is nothing to say besides to apologise.”
Magistrate Ian Weekes said he was “baffled' by the couple’s actions.
He said if they had been infected with Covid their actions could have led to it being spread among the local community.
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