EX-NRL star’s excuse for Covid breach

Former NRL star Josh Dugan has escaped without a penalty after being found guilty of breaching Covid-19 travel restrictions at the height of the pandemic.

The former Canberra, Cronulla and St George Illawarra star pleaded not guilty to two counts of contravening the state’s health order and on Friday faced Lithgow Local Court to learn his fate.

Court documents reveal he was stopped by police just before midnight on August 20, 2021 while travelling through Lithgow near the NSW Blue Mountains.

He and a friend were instructed to drive back to Gymea, in Sydney’s south, but instead they continued on to their original destination in Yetholme.

Half an hour later, the former NSW Blues representative was again pulled over by the same officers.

A court heard he told police he was in the process of moving to Yetholme, a rural town between Bathurst and Lithgow.

He told police he was travelling to feed animals on the property.

Police argued that Mr Dugan knew he was flouting the strict Covid travel restrictions, which forbade travel between Sydney and regional NSW during that period.

However, his lawyer Paul McGirr had argued the police needed to prove the former fullback knew which restrictions were in place at a time when the regulations were constantly changing.

The ex-Test star’s legal proceedings were delayed at the end of last year after the legality of Covid penalty infringement notices came into question following a Supreme Court ruling.

More than 33,000 Covid fines issued in NSW were thrown out after the court determined the offences had not adequately been clearly identified.

In Lithgow Local Court on Friday, Dugan was found guilty of one count of not complying with a noticed direction.

Magistrate Kasey Pearce acquitted Dugan of another count of not complying with a noticed direction.

She recorded a conviction but imposed no further penalty.