Maintaining a watch over a Devonshire couple’s home after they were accused of flouting the island’s Covid-19 quarantine rules ran up a bill of $13,900, police have said.

The weeklong operation took roughly 28 police officers, according to a public access to information request.

Sophia Cannonier and her partner, Mike Watson, were found guilty in July in Magistrates’ Court with refusing to comply with a mandatory quarantine as directed by a health officer three years earlier, along with failing to complete a Travel Authorisation Form.

In July 2021, the two refused to follow the Government’s mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers who were not vaccinated against the infection, after they returned from a trip to Britain.

The couple, who argued that they had already developed a natural immunity to Covid-19 after contracting the illness, stood trial intending to challenge the legitimacy of vaccination-based restrictions.

However, their medical evidence was deemed irrelevant by the magistrate, Khamisi Tokunbo, who said the argument of natural immunity was “not relevant to any of the charges they face”.

The couple, who launched an appeal, have said their case is to go back to court in January.

They drew a crowd of supporters in 2021 after openly refusing to comply with restrictions as they came through LF Wade International Airport.

At the time, under emergency regulations, unvaccinated travellers were required by law to quarantine in a hotel at their own expense.

The two refused and left the airport for their home in Devonshire.

A health officer, accompanied by police, went to the couple’s residence to arrest them for violating health restrictions.

In his ruling, Mr Tokunbo said that police decided to back down owing to “non-cooperation of the defendants, the aggressive crowd present in support of the defendants, discussions with their counsel and consideration of the defendants’ young children”.

The two were allowed to quarantine at home with police guards stationed on the property, but police said anyone else breaking the restrictions would be arrested and prosecuted.

After they were found guilty this summer, The Royal Gazette filed a public access to information request to the Bermuda Police Service for details on the resources used to keep watch over their home in the period from July 19 to 25 in 2021.

Police initially declined to provide details, saying that to do so would “allow criminals to gauge the capacity and tactical capabilities of the BPS, potentially enabling them to target specific areas of the island for criminal activities in future BPS operations”.

The Gazette appealed the refusal on the basis that the operation in question had occurred in unusual pandemic circumstances, and did not reflect normal police activities.

The appeal also cited a public interest factor for disclosure, in that police were responding to a highly public challenge to the law.

Darren Simons, the Commissioner of Police, responded with details, saying that “approximately 28 officers were deployed for this event”.

Mr Simons added that keeping watch over the residence to ensure compliance took up about 168 hours of police time.

The commissioner said that, using the average hourly rate, the cost of the deployment added up to $13,900.

Meanwhile, the couple’s appeal is to be heard before Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe.

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