22 November 2023 , 14:37
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A grandma who left a chicken sandwich in her bag during a flight has received a hefty fine.
June Armstrong was travelling from Christchurch to Brisbane on May 2 to house-sit for friends when a group of security officers tapped her on the shoulder. The 77-year-old was told she'd need to fork out £1,570.
The reason why was her packed lunch. The pensioner had bought the gluten-free chicken and lettuce sandwich and a muffin at Christchurch Airport before boarding the 4am flight to Australia. After chomping through the muffin June decided to take a nap before getting to the sandwich. But she never did.
When the nan woke up, she filled out the declaration form to make security staff aware of her prescription medication, only to fail to mention her sandwich, NZ Herald reported. When her bags were checked at Brisbane Airport, June realised she had made a mistake.
The fine was issued at Brisbane Airport (Getty Images)An official caught sight of the sandwich, prompting the OAP to ask if they could just throw it away for her. Instead she alleged they just said "12 points, $3,300." After realising that they were not joking, June burst into tears. She would later appeal the fine but to no avail.
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"I was just sobbing and said “$NZ3300 for a little sandwich? My husband kept saying, 'Just pay it'. I said, 'It’s our pension, we can’t afford this’," June said. "I think of it night and day, I now am on sleeping tablets. I am consumed by how much this fine was and how much it will affect our lives."
Six months on, June has accepted she won’t be getting her money back. She has since spoken out to warn fellow passengers not to make the same mistake.
According to Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, June needed an import permit to bring the chicken sandwich into the county. The organisation said it could have been a much higher penalty.
"Meat has strict import conditions which can change quickly based on disease outbreaks. Uncanned meats, including vacuum-sealed items, are not allowed into Australia unless accompanied by an import permit," a departmental spokesperson told news.com.au.
"Chicken meat poses a significant biosecurity risk to Australia, particularly the risk of highly pathogenic notifiable avian influenza (HPNAI) virus which can cause severe disease and mortality across Australia’s poultry industry, and may also affect wild bird populations."
All food products must be declared on arrival and may be inspected to make sure that they comply with import conditions. Those who fail to declare certain items could be forced to pay double the fine that June did.
Australia has very strict rules around what can and can't be brought into the country, in part due to damaging foreign fauna related incidents in its past. Famously the introduction of rabbits in the country led to the widespread destruction of much of its plant life.