Police visit author for ‘suitable advice’ over escape to Skye
A BESTSELLING author has been spoken to by police after travelling from New Zealand to Scotland during lockdown. Neil Gaiman, the writer behind Amazon Prime hit series Good Omens, flew 11,000 miles from New Zealand to spend lockdown at his home on Skye. Revelations of his journey coincided with a virus outbreak at a care home in Portree, where the death toll reached ten at the weekend. Thirty residents and 29 staff tested positive for Covid-19 at Home Farm Care Home. Last week, the Care Inspectorate, which regulates the industry, asked a sheriff to strip the care home’s owner, HC-One, of its licence to operate after finding serious shortcomings in its management. John Gordon’s father John, 83, a dementia patient, died from the virus at the home. Mr Gordon, an Independent councillor on Skye, said: ‘It is frustrating people can still access planes and public transport with the possibility of the virus spreading, hence the message stay at home. Borders should have been closed.
‘People locally will not go on a drive, even for a few miles to go on walks around Skye.’
Gaiman revealed the details of his trip in his blog, describing how he decided to make the journey so he could ‘isolate easily’ after he and his wife, the singer Amanda Palmer, agreed they ‘needed to give each other some space’.
In response to online criticism, Gaiman said: ‘I’m a UK taxpayer and on the Scottish voting rolls. I went home.’
Inspector Linda Allan, of the Scottish police force, said: ‘Officers have visited Neil Gaiman. He has been given suitable advice about essential travel and reminded about the guidelines in Scotland.’
Yesterday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: ‘You should not be travelling away from home apart from in essential circumstances. That’s my message to Neil Gaiman.’
‘Borders should have been closed’