Curbs on quarantine guards after lawyer barricades herself in to escape harassment
A LAWYER was forced to barricade herself in her quarantine hotel room after being harassed by a security guard, it has emerged.
Brittany Dodds, 26, was bombarded with Facebook messages from the guard at the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel at Heathrow.
The South African lawyer ignored the messages and said she did not make a complaint out of fear it could “provoke him”.
On the evening of her fourth day of quarantine, she used her bags to barricade the door after he sent a message saying, “this evening I’ll come”, the BBC reported.
The next day the guard was reportedly offended after Brittany asked for another person to escort her back to her room. He knocked on her door again.
“At this point I was shaking and had no words because I knew that he was now following me,” she told the BBC.
She did not leave her room again for six days until after her quarantine was finished.
An investigation by the BBC previously revealed allegations of sexual harassment by guards against female guests in quarantine hotels, including one woman who said a guard mimed having sex while in a lift with her. Ms Dodds is one of 16 women who have reported the incidents to the broadcaster.
In response to the allegations, the
‘While out on walks I would wear gym pants. The guards made a habit of telling me my body looked good’
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced yesterday that women will now be escorted by female guards, and if none is available male guards should work in twos.
Since February, anyone travelling to the UK from a red-list country has been required to quarantine in a government-approved facility for 10 days.
Travellers face a £1,750 bill for the stay which aims to prevent new Covid variants entering the UK.
Rosaria Lily Brenno, who quarantined in the Arora Gatwick Hotel with her sister last month, said the experience was “horrendous”.
“While out on walks I would wear gym pants. The guards made a habit of telling me my body and bum looked good,” she said.
A DHSC spokesman said: “Sexual harassment and abuse are abhorrent – and all allegations of this are taken extremely seriously. We are doing our utmost to ensure every person in managed quarantine gets the support they need and we’re urgently working to investigate complaints of this nature.
“We expect hotels to do everything they can to keep people safe and to address concerns raised by guests, as well as raising with us where needed.
“We will not hesitate to take immediate action to suspend staff where appropriate and report to the police.”