The Times - UK (2022-01-13)

the times | Thursday January 13 2022 15

News

Novak Djokovic admitted an “error of
judgment” and confirmed that he broke
Covid-19 isolation rules last month by
attending a photoshoot after testing
positive.
His admission has thrown into doubt
his participation in the Australian
Open as he awaits a decision from Alex
Hawke, the immigration minister, on
whether he will be deported. The player
also made a false travel declaration
before his arrival last week.
Djokovic, 34, attended an interview
and removed his mask during a photo-
shoot with the French newspaper
L’Equipe in Belgrade, despite knowing
that he was infected. A day earlier he
was at a tennis event and presented
awards to children after taking a PCR
test but before getting the result, he says.
In an Instagram post the player said
he sought to clarify “misinformation”
and claimed it wasn’t until after the
event with children that he learnt that
he was Covid positive. However, he did
admit to conducting an in-person in-
terview while knowing he was positive.
“I felt obliged to go ahead and con-
duct the interview as I didn’t want to let
the journalist down but did ensure I so-
cially distanced and wore a mask except

hours after arriving in Australia when

border forces claimed that he had failed

to produce proof that he had a lawful

exemption from being vaccinated

against Covid-19. On Monday a judge

in Melbourne ordered his release after

finding that the border officers had de-

nied him access to a lawyer.

The statement was released just as

Djokovic’s Open in doubt after

admitting Covid infection ‘error’

Bernard Lagan Sydney when my photograph was being taken,”
he said in Melbourne. “On reflection,
this was an error of judgment and I
accept that I should have rescheduled
this commitment.”
Hawke has delayed a decision on
whether to cancel the visa again after
new information from the tennis star’s
lawyers. Djokovic, the winner of 20
grand slam titles, said he attended a
basketball game on December 14 where
a number of people contracted Covid-

19. He took a rapid antigen test on Dec-
    ember 16, which he said was negative.
    Then out of caution he took a PCR on
    the same day. The following day he
    attended a tennis event in Belgrade to
    present children with awards. “I was
    asymptomatic and felt good,” he said.
    He also denied that he personally lied
    on his entry form. He said that his
    support team answered “no” to a ques-
    tion about travelling outside Serbia in
    the fortnight before his arrival when
    they should have put “yes”. The Austra-
    lian government is looking into reports
    that he was photographed training in
    Marbella on December 31.
    José Manuel Albares, the Spanish
    foreign minister, said that he had no
    record of the player visiting Spain and
    he had not been contacted by Australia.
    Djokovic was forced into detention

members of the media were permitted

to enter his Australian Open practice

session for ten minutes in Melbourne,

the first time he publicly trained since

arriving in Australia. The final draw for

the tournament is due to be announced

today but Djokovic is not certain to

play.

He claimed a medical exemption

from being vaccinated because he con-

tracted Covid-19 in December but the

Australian government has argued that

this does not constitute a valid reason

for an exemption.

Moreover, his positive test has been

brought into doubt, with digital data

analysed by the German news website

Der Spiegel suggesting that his results

were from December 26, not December

16. His documentation for entry
    claimed the test was from December 16.
    Der Spiegel added : “The test results
    also include QR codes, and when Der
    Spiegel scanned the QR code for the
    test from December 16, things got
    strange. On Monday, the result from
    the scan was ‘test result negative.’
    Such a result would have destroyed
    Djokovic’s case for being allowed into
    the country. About an hour later,
    though, a second scan of the QR code
    returned a different result: ‘test result
    positive’. ”

Man mauled

to death by

three dogs

Will Humphries

Southwest Correspondent

A man has been mauled to death by

three “bulldogs” after calling at the

home of a young woman in a Welsh

country town.

The victim, in his sixties, was bitten

by her three British bulldog-type dogs.

Police were called to the terraced

house in the market town of Lampeter,

west Wales, to find the victim covered

in blood and the woman crying on the

doorstep.

A police source said the animals were

believed to be “British bulldog types”,

which are not listed as a dangerous

breed.

A woman, believed to be in her twen-

ties, was arrested on suspicion of being

in charge of a dog dangerously out of

control and released under investi-

gation by Dyfed-Powys police.

A neighbour said: “She has lived here

for about three or four years and is al-

ways out with her dogs. She always

seemed very responsible with them, al-

though three dogs are not easy to han-

dle for a young girl like that. She is a bit

of a hippy type but very well-meaning.”

A post-mortem examination is due

to be carried out to establish the cause

of death and an inquest will be held by

Peter Brunton, the Ceredigion coroner.

Ripper was

in chains as

he lay dying

Matt Dathan Home Affairs Editor

The Yorkshire Ripper was kept in

chains until shortly before his death

and was not allowed to call his wife to

say goodbye, a prison ombudsman

report has revealed.

Peter Sutcliffe, who murdered 13

women between 1975 and 1980, died in

hospital with Covid-19 at the age of 74.

He had been serving a whole-life term

at HMP Frankland in Co Durham, one

of Britain’s highest security prisons.

Sutcliffe, who was blind and used a

wheelchair, had refused treatment

after his transfer from prison. He told

staff there was “no point as all the toing

and froing isn’t helping him or doctors”.

A report into his death by Sue McAl-

lister, the prison ombudsman, criticised

the use of restraints on Sutcliffe and a

delay by staff in removing them when

his condition made them unnecessary.

The report also found that Sutcliffe,

who went by the name Peter Coonan,

was not able to call his next of kin,

his wife Sonia, before he died in No-

vember 2020.

“Although most of the prison’s liaison

with Mr Coonan’s next of kin was of a

good standard, we are disappointed

that he could not talk directly with his

next of kin when he was dying and that

prison staff had to act as messengers for

their personal messages,” it said.

McAllister recommended that the

prison governor should ensure staff

allow a dying prisoner direct contact

with their next of kin or family member

via mobile phone.

Sutcliffe’s killing spree began in Oc-

tober 1975 when he attacked Wilma

McCann, a 28-year-old mother of four

in Leeds, hitting her with a hammer and

stabbing her 15 times. Over the next five

years he claimed the lives of 12 more

women before being apprehended.

Novak Djokovic presented awards on

December 17 while Covid positive but

says he had not yet had his test result

A

ustralia’s most-

watched

television

network has

denounced the

leaking of a video showing

its star newsreaders

exchanging foul-mouthed

descriptions of Novak

Djokovic (Bernard Lagan

writes).

Footage of the

Melbourne-based Seven

presenters talking about the

tennis star’s fight to enter

the country and compete in

the Australian Open shows

them calling him an

“arsehole” and accusing

him of faking his border

entry forms.

Craig McPherson, Seven’s

network director of news,

said in a statement: “The

illegal recording was of a

private

conversation

between two

colleagues. It was

an underhanded,

cowardly act in

breach of the

Victorian

listening devices

legislation, the

perpetrator of

which will be

accordingly dealt

with when found.”

In the leaked

video, Rebecca Maddern,

the presenter, told her on-

air colleague Mike Amor:

“Whatever way you look at

it, Novak Djokovic is a

lying, sneaky, arsehole. It’s

unfortunate that everybody

else stuffed up around him.

To go out when you know

you’re Covid-positive —

well, I don’t think

he was even

Covid-

positive.. .”

Amor agreed

with the descripion of

Djokovic and added:

“You’ve got a bullshit

f***ing excuse and then he

fell over his own f***ing

lies, which is what happens

right?”

He added: “I think most

fair-minded people would

say, ‘The bloke’s an

arsehole’. Did they do the

right thing by him? I don’t

know. They f***ed it up.

That’s the problem, isn’t it.”

Lewis Martin, Seven’s

managing director, said

Maddern had apologised

and the network was

investigating the leak.

“There has been an

illegal recording of a

private conversation,” he

told 3AW radio. “It is going

to be looked at and is being

looked at thoroughly.”

Presenters’

X-rated

verdict on

tennis star

ddern lyingsneakyarseholeIt’s

w

h

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withthedes

Mike Amor and Rebecca Maddern exchanged candid views on Djokovic while off-air

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