Sonny Barkho’s business had been open for less than a week when he was targeted in a police blitz in which more than 25,000 people received COVID-related tickets in a month, almost double the number of the previous 17 months combined.

Barkho, 51, was at his cafe in Glebe in Sydney’s inner west on August 17, 2021, when two police officers walked in.

Sonny Barkho, the owner of Cibo Cafe in Glebe, received a $1000 fine.Credit:Brook Mitchell

While they observed that he was displaying a QR code and all his staff members and takeaway customers were wearing masks, they asked to see his COVID safety plan.

Barkho, who had filled out and lodged the eight-page plan, became confused about what they wanted.

“They said to me, ‘You have to have a safety plan, like when you buy a car you have to register it with Service NSW; the same thing, you have to register your business with Service NSW.’

“I was confused … I thought to myself, ‘Maybe there’s a new rule coming out.’”

Later that day he went to Glebe police station and showed the officer at the front desk an old safety plan as an example, asking if this was the type of document police had asked for.

He was later issued with a $1000 fine that cited the old expired document and suggested he had perhaps never held a COVID safety plan. Barkho showed the Herald his safety plan from the time, which was valid from August 2.

He said he became flustered when the officers walked in wearing guns because he was reminded of police in his native Iraq. He is challenging the fine in court and the case is due to proceed to hearing in September.

Barkho said he sent his documentation to police in an attempt to have the fine withdrawn, but the commander of Leichhardt Police Area Command informed him in a letter that the case would be left to the determination of the court.

Police check the address of people at Bondi Beach during a lockdown last year.Credit: Renee Nowytarger

He said it has been stressful trying to find someone to cover his shifts for his court appearances, and he might have to close the cafe for the day of the hearing. He is dreading the possibility that the situation might result in a criminal record.

“If I did something wrong, I would have said to them, ‘I’m wrong,’ ” he said.

A NSW Police spokesperson said police were unable to comment on the case because it was before a court.

According to figures from Revenue NSW, police handed out more COVID fines in a single month, August 2021, than they did in the previous 17 months combined – 25,687 fines, worth $23.9 million. From March 2020 to July 2021, just 13,128 penalty notices were issued.

In a video in August, then-police commissioner Mick Fuller had challenged officers to go “high-level enforcement” and said they would not be held to account if they issued COVID fines incorrectly.

“I am asking you to put community policing to the side for a short period of time,” Fuller said in the internal video. “You need to take a strong approach to enforcement. I have said before, if you write a ticket and you get it wrong, I understand and I won’t hold you to account for that.”

While many have challenged their fines, multiple recipients have told the Herald they decided to pay to avoid further stress and move on with their lives. As of June this year, about 4100 people who were issued fines in August 2021 had paid.

Alister Rathie, 38, is one of them. He maintains he was within the rules that allowed people to leave their homes for exercise or outdoor recreation, but felt he had no choice but to pay after a review was rejected.

Rathie and his friend walked the short distance from their homes to Bronte Park in Sydney’s east on August 15 and got a coffee before they sat down, allowing Rathie to rest an injured ligament in his knee. A police officer soon walked up and said he had been watching.

“He said, ‘I see you’re drinking coffee,’ ” Rathie said.

Two women nearby, sitting on yoga mats, were not fined because they were considered to be actively exercising, he said. Rathie and his friend both received infringements.

“I didn’t have a yoga mat, so I was in trouble,” he said.

Two days after he was fined, the NSW government updated its website to clarify that outdoor recreation included “leisure activities such as sitting for relaxation, or to eat, drink or read outdoors”.

Rathie had been saving for a house deposit and was annoyed to dip into his savings for the unexpected cost. He and his friend asked for a review and both were rejected.

“Despite the officer indicating my fine could be reviewed, he was the police officer consulted in the review process who simply confirmed the events of the day and my fine was not overturned,” he said.

A test case in the NSW Supreme Court is aiming to have fines such as Barkho’s and Rathie’s declared invalid, arguing infringements for offences like “not comply with noticed direction s 7/8/9” do not provide enough detail, as required by the Fines Act.

One of the orders sought in the case is a declaration that any money paid for the plaintiffs’ fines be repaid. If the case is successful, people who have paid COVID-19 fines could potentially use the precedent to ask for a refund.

When the case was mentioned in the Supreme Court this week, a barrister appearing for the NSW Police Commissioner and the Commissioner of Fines Administration said her clients had been told very little about the case, but were aware it had been described as a test case.

The case will be mentioned in court again in August, with a hearing set for November.

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